Mischievous Psychology
by Heuvel
Summary: Loki has just gotten to Earth in order to wage war upon its populace and his brother, Thor, as well as the Avengers. But before he does, he must first learn a little bit about his future slaves, as well as a certain human girl. Loki/OC.
1. Willing Knowledge

Hi. Just a little disclaimer: Some events from the movie/comics might be inaccurate, and if they are, feel free to correct me but please be nice about it. This fan fiction is based off the movie, mainly, but for some reason I couldn't find the tag under movies. I will move it once I do, though. Also, I'm really interested in psychology, but I'm no expert. Sorry for any bearing mistakes!

* * *

Well, he thought, at least he got the resourceful ingrates of the human population. Though one must not ignore the fact that one of them was the best sharpshooter and very bright for a human, and thus a little volatile even under the submission of his scepter. The other one, the scientist and teacher, loved Thor more than he loved air, so he too would be difficult to estimate how long it took him to crack away from the power of Loki's mind manipulation.

Loki grunted as he waded on the back of the S.H.I.E.L.D. jeep, going over hills and pushing dust up all around him so he couldn't see where he was going. Great Odin, did his head hurt. He realized that transporting himself through the Tesseract between worldly dimensions would cause him to have such a headache. To be honest, as a god, he would have expected to have the trip be something easy to handle. How did Thor do it?

"Sir." Barton said suddenly from the front of the Jeep, "Where should we go?"

"Anywhere." Loki replied, "Anywhere that the scientist can do his work."

"I know just the place." Erik Selvig said earnestly, "I know just where we can go, sir. I know where we can do our work so that we can make use out of the Tesseract, sir. I know the perfec—"

"Then take me there." Loki snapped impatiently. He sighed heavily and leaned back on the window of the Jeep and watched the stars above him. Albeit, most of his view was muddled by the dust that the vehicle was emitting, but it all looked beautiful nonetheless. Loki, of all things, found his comfort in the darkness of the world's around him. The silence that he saw between these worlds, this was the best silence he had ever heard, or never heard, before. He could think clearly in this silence.

The ride took forever for a human, but for Loki, who had spent his time in one of the unknown spaces of the universe, it was almost a blink of an eye. The humans were busy driving through the streets of what looked like a large city. Loki said to his pawns, "Where are we going?"

"The old military base where the Super Soldier Serum was made." Erik said, "It's in New York. It's underground, you'll be away from everything."

"How thoughtful." Loki said sharply, Erik beamed.

When they finally got to the alleyway that would lead to this experimention room, Loki looked at Barton, "I will need you to find me more scientists. Do you have suggestions?"

"I know a few people who are enemies of S.H.I.E.L.D." Barton said, "I can go to them."

"What is your name?"

"Clint Barton." Barton said, "Hawkeye is my agent name."

"Then I shall address you as Clint. Go and persuade my future workers for me." And Barton, or Clint, smiled at him with his faded, icy blue eyes and went over to the Jeep. He pulled out his bow and snapped it to the ready before walking out of the alleyway and into the life of New York. Loki turned from the street to Erik, "Take me to the lab."

Erik knew exactly where to go and Loki marveled at this inside himself. The lab had been long deserted by his former occupants but Erik seemed to have studied it enough.

The lab was completely bleak and the only reason Loki could see was credited to the soft blue light emitting from some of the emergency generators around the room. Erik said something about how those could give them energy, for a little while, at least, before bustling around the place to make it more homey. There was a large generator in the middle of the room where Captain America himself was made, but Loki ignored it and went into one of the large glass rooms where he could see work desks and little tools already. "It looks like someone has been making themselves at home here already." Loki snarled.

"Yes. Me." Erik said suddenly, "I've restored the place a little bit. Granted, I didn't know I'd have a Norse God here with me today to see it, or else I would have stocked the fridge or maybe found a place where you could sit, but I've done my best with the budget I have—"

"Tell me." Loki cut him off, "If I were to be one that needed knowledge, where would I go?"

"Knowledge? You need more knowledge?"

"I suppose..." Loki said, and he walked around the large stone room with his cape swishing behind him and his armor feeling heavy. He had decided in keeping his helmet off, but he had noticed that the wind from the car ride had fluffed up his hair enough to annoy him. His boots made soft thudding sounds on the ground, and they echoed so much that Erik blinked whenever he heard them. Loki continued, "I suppose that if I'm going to enslave the entire race of this world, I need to know a little bit about them." He stopped and glanced at Erik, "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then where should I go? I'm not going to sit down here like a housewife while you work."

"There's a library a street away. It opens at 9 tomorrow."

"Then tomorrow." Loki said, and he left Erik to continue making the place look somewhat acceptable for the God of Micheif.

Loki didn't sleep. He waited while he listened to Erik grunt around in the basement below him. He had chosen a room in the middle of the abandoned building, whereas on each wall there was a line of tall windows that showed Loki everything around him, but did not show himself to the world. He'd only be in this room during the night, of course, and spend his days pandering around the city or in the basement, telling Erik what to do. During the night, Clint returned to him saying that he had found a couple of scientists that were keen to join Loki in his fight against S.H.I.E.L.D., and that they would arrive to work tomorrow.

And on that marrow, Loki was up and moving at dawn to observe the city. Erik was still awake and when Loki appeared behind him as he was bugging around with one of the machines, Loki had mentioned that the place did look cleaner than the night before. That compliment would sustain Erik for the duration of the day.

"If I may, sir." Erik said timidly, "You will stand out a little bit to the humans with those clothes."

Loki raised his eyebrows and looked down at his attire. He designed this garb himself, but he supposed that Erik was correct. It would suit him with ill to stand out too much before his first move. Loki allowed his cape and fighting clothes to vanish in favor to a necktie, a black coat, and a scarf with his signature colors.

Kidnapping and controlling the minds of scientists and a sharpshooter who would prove to be one of his bodyguards? Check. Finding a space in the earth that was close to everything he needed but far enough secluded so that his work with the Tesseract wouldn't be interrupted by his idiot brother? Check. To try the drink called coffee that Thor liked so much. En route.

It was bitter and Loki liked it very much as well. Coffee wasn't anything like wine that Loki was accustomed to, albeit Loki often didn't drink wine like his comrades back on Asgard. He had preferred something a little less debilitating: ice water. But this coffee was a picker-upper, and Loki didn't mind it.

He found the library in due time. It was large and stone just like the rest of the buildings, and hilariously enough, had two monstrous wolves sat on the edge of the stairs that led into the building titled "NYC LIBRARY" above it. Wolves, creatures of Norse mythology. Loki smiled at them while he passed them, walking up the stairs, and through the large glass door. He was the only one at the moment, it being 9:05am in the morning, and only the attending librarians were present.

Loki approached one of the large counters provided by the library and waited, his cup of coffee in his hand as he did. He took a silent sip before the libarian before him realized that he was there. She jumped but controlled herself long enough to ask, "Can I help you?"

"Hopefully." Loki said smoothly, "I'm looking for a book about behavior."

"What type of behavior?"

"Human."

The librarian gave him a strange look and Loki caught it. Was it possible that he had said something suspicious in front of the book nurse? He retraced his request in his mind quickly, and said suddenly, "It's for a report."

"The psychology section in on the top floor, by the large windows, Row 3.4. There is an assistant there that will help you."

"Thank you." Loki sneered, before walking past the desk and up the flight of stairs lithely. The inside of the library, he thought, was impressive. Albeit not as impressive as his home in Asgard, but the large staircases and the walls being completely covering in books intrigued him. If he wasn't a rouge Norse God with a vengeance against the human race, and thus didn't have much time, he would have loved to have gone through and read every single one of those books. The crimson draperies that hung from the large windows, however, they could go.

When Loki finally got to the top floor, he glanced around himself. The large windows were the only form of direction that the hold hag below gave him, so he went to them. He found himself, finally, at Row 3.4.

"Can I help you with something?"

Loki turned around and glanced at the assistant before him. It was obvious she worked in the library, since her clothes were very much like the clothes of the other woman. Completely gray and black, a pencil skirt with a nice blouse and ugly shoes. Her hair was long and wavy from her part to her tips, which flicked out similar to how Loki's did, and it was a bright blond; it almost burned his eyes to look at it. She had large brown eyes that bore in to him as well, watching him.

Loki said suddenly, "I'm looking for psychology books."

"Which branch of psychology?" She asked quickly.

"Behavior."

She cocked her head awkwardly and said, "So did you want a book completely about behaviorism or specifically Methodological, Radical, Teleological, Theoretical, Biological, or Psychological?"

Loki glared at her, "I'm not here to play word games."

"Well then we can avoid the Stroop effect books." She snipped back at him, quicker than he expected her to.

Loki thought for a moment before saying, "You…you know quite a lot about human behavior, don't you?"

"I'm a psychology major." She said, "I work here part-time. But they always put me in this section. None of them are really smart enough to know what to do when someone like you comes in asking for just a book about psychology."

"I'm simply unfamiliar with it." Loki said.

"I noticed."

Loki nodded in approval at her wit, opting out to let her win that argument while he walked to the bookshelf and dragged his hand along the bindings. Conversely, he said, "So if I were to ask you a question about human behavior, you'd be able to answer it."

"It depends. Psychology isn't just black and white. Thanks to the Stroop effect."

"But if I asked how one might train humans, what would your response be?"

"Operant conditioning via positive reinforcement." She spieled out.

Loki smiled dangerously but she couldn't see since his back was to her, "Interesting. That's what psychology is. To train?"

"Not exactly…" The assistant said, and she went over to Loki. He tensed but she walked right by him, her platinum hair trailing behind her so Loki could watch it go past as well. She went over to one of the books and pulled it out before saying, "Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior. We use psychology to understand ourselves. Our thoughts; actions. Theoretically, if one can understand how we work, we can help others that don't."

"And why do you study psychology?" Loki asked while he looked at the cover of one of the books he had pulled off from the shelf. It was simply called FREUD.

The assistant smiled and said to him, "I'm adopted."

And Loki caught himself in a cough, or a grunt, or something thick and shocking in his throat, and he about snapped his neck by looking up at her.

But she continued, "I experienced the classic effect of adoption: I had an identity crisis. I used psychology—" She waved the book in the air to demonstrate "—To understand who I was. As a person. Since my parents weren't all that helpful."

"Why?" Loki asked, "Why were you adopted?"

"My mother didn't want me." She stated blandly, "She was some rich teenager that got knocked up when she was 16, and she almost got an abortion. But her parents sent her to a home to have me quickly and then get rid of me." Her eyes glazed over for a moment in her thinking; a familiar facial expression for Loki, he presumed. She finished while she was gently picking at the fabric on the front of the book, "She went on to be a football cheerleader."

"And what does a football cheerleader do, exactly?" Loki asked.

The girl laughed and shook her head at him, "You really are not from around here, are you?"

Loki's smile was bitterly tense, "I am…from far away, yes."

She shrugged and put the book back where she found it, "I suppose I'd rather be adopted than aborted, anyway."

"And your new family?"

"A mother, a father and a new sister." She said, "They're all into being pretty and sports and family outdoor play dates. I just do this." She waved her finger in the air to illustrate that they were currently standing in the middle of the psychology section.

Loki suddenly said, "I'm adopted as well."

"I could tell." She said, "You're reserved and calculated." She smiled at him and handed him a book, in which was named HUMAN BEHAVIOR: THEORIES AND PRACTICES. "Try this book out for your little report."

"Thank you." Loki said, and he placed the book under his arm. "I'm Loki."

Her brows furrowed, "Like the Norse God?"

"Exactly like the Norse God." Loki confirmed, surprised that she even knew about such things.

"Are you mischievous, too?" She asked, "Or does your name not affect your psychology?"

"No, no." Loki almost laughed, his wide smile bearing his teeth in amusement, "I'm deviously mischievous."

"Well." She said, and she held out her hand to him. He took it slowly, somewhat surprised by her gesture. Her hands were very small compared to his own giant ones. She then said, "It's nice to meet you, then, Loki."

"And your name?" Loki asked, shaking her hand gently.

"My name is Psyche." She replied, "Psyche Velle."

Loki smiled at her, his best amiable smile that he could muster, "Well Miss. Psyche, I shall return with this book when I'm finished. Thank you for your assistance."

* * *

Hello. Welcome to this story. If you're a reader of mine, I'm sorry, I love comics and I just had to. I'm so interested in Loki's psychology that I just wanted to pick it apart. What better way than love? Also, I hope you get all the references. BTW, Velle is Latin for willing. I'll let you guys figure out the rest. Tell me what you think!


	2. Emotional Intelligence

"Sir." Clint said suddenly behind Loki, though he had heard the sharpshooter coming up the stairs. He was stealthy; Loki gave him that. Loki had been reading when he appeared behind him.

Loki closed his psychology book and looked straight forward, indicating to Clint that he was paying attention, though looking out the window in preference to looking at Clint's haggard, red shot eyes.

Clint continued, "We should be ready to deploy in two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Loki asked. The sun was just coming up on the edge of the city; Loki had seen the frost from the night slowly turn to dew. It was a marvelous thing to encounter in such a mental city while he read his book. A golden beam of sun latched itself upon one of the towers as Loki said, "We can't make it one, by chance?"

"It'll be difficult." Clint said, "For me to get that eye…"

"Of course." Loki agreed, "We should have an audience anyway."

"He'll be having a gallery showing in Germany, sir. In two weeks."

"So be it." Loki said, as he got up from his seat and stuffed the book under his arm. "I will be gone today."

"Sir." Clint said quickly, before ducking out of the room.

Loki turned around and went out the same way, allowing his garments to turn into what mortals would consider normal clothing. Erik saw him pass by, and when Loki had swished past him without so much as acknowledging him, Erik looked to Clint, "Where is he going?"

"A woman outside caught his eye." Clint said calmly as he went over to one of the computers and started to press some of the buttons, "Having a little fun with the mortals, I guess." Hearing this, Erik gave a confused grunt before shaking it off and getting back to work.

Despite the ice turning into dew that morning, Loki noticed that for the humans, it was quite chilly. He watched as the subject of his interest started to hustle down the street, sheets of paper protruding out of her three books that she was carrying. Her pearly golden locks were tied up in a bun, which was being tussled about by the chilly wind. A scarf covered her neck but Loki still saw the tell-tale signs of a red nose and cheeks.

Loki watched with interest as the papers from her books shot out and started to get carried away by the wind, making her growl outloud in frustration before attempting to catch them. Loki, however, simply held out his hand, the papers came floating to him. He met them in the middle of the sidewalk and stood there, waiting for Psyche to stop just in front of him. "Thank you." Psyche said politely, not realizing whom she was speaking to. She took the papers from Loki's outstretched hands and stuffed them inside her books with vigor before looking up finally. Loki came face to face with a very pink human face; bright brown eyes went wide with realization, "Mr. Loki." Psyche said.

"Good morning." Loki greeted, "I noticed you were having a little trouble."

"Just a little." Psyche said in reply, but it wasn't just a little. In addition to her pile of books that she was carrying, she had a large purse that she could hardly handle, and her gloves were making everything all the more difficult to carry. Loki reached out and took the books swiftly from her hands.

Psyche went to protest but Loki held all four books, her three and his sole book, in one arm before holding up a hand to stop her, "I shall carry these for you."

"You don't have to." Psyche tried, "If you have some place to be or something."

"I certainly do not." Loki replied, "I am meaning to return this book to you this morning. That's why I'm out here."

"You finished it?" Psyche asked.

"Yes."

"It took me a whole semester to finish that book." She breathed, a puff of mist passing her lips.

Loki realized that while she was standing there, shivering and pink with cold, the weather didn't affect him in the least. In fact, his skin wasn't red at all, but it stayed its normal pallid flesh color. He said suddenly, "We should get you to the library before you get sick." How ungodly frail she was.

She nodded and started walking briskly, hugging herself against the cold. Loki followed in his elegant gait. "I looked up Loki last night." Psyche suddenly said.

"Looked me up?"

"No." She laughed, "The god Loki." Loki furrowed his eyebrows at her and was about to correct her, but then something occurred to him that hadn't before. The people of Earth did not know him or Thor as the actual Norse God's, living in Asgard in a universe filled with other kinds. They had their own little stories about his kind, stories that had been fabricated and misconducted somehow. Psyche's Loki was different from himself.

"And what was that Loki like?" He asked.

"You'd think that if you shared his name, you'd look him up to." Psyche said suddenly.

"I have." Loki bluffed, "I just wanted to know what you found."

"Well." Psyche said, "I found out that Loki, the God of Mischief, is a total and utter slut."

"Slut." Loki repeated. "Slut?"

"You know. Someone who has sex with everyone. Someone who is dirty…" Psyche started to go to the little coffee place that Loki had gotten his coffee from the day before, "Someone who—"

"I got it." Loki snapped, "I'm just surprised that that would be the thing that stands out to you."

"Loki was known for being, well, mischievous." Psyche pointed out.

Loki snarled behind her back. Yes, but not sexually.

"His story is interesting." She continued on as they waited for their coffee. "He was bound by his own son's entrails and had venom dropped on his forehead." She glanced up at him, "That's apparently why we have earthquakes."

Loki almost laughed. How far away from the truth these humans were.

"But no one liked Loki." She suddenly said. She grabbed the coffee and held it to her mouth to take a sip. Loki took his own and watched her keenly as he took a sip as well. She said softly, "He is the most complicated thing. No one can agree on who he is. Only he knows who he was."

Loki stared at her, dead-set, his crystalized eyes bearing in to her in shocking frost. His nails started to dig into the stylized Styrofoam.

She smiled at him and said, "I have to open the library today. Do you mind if we hurry a little bit?" Loki only nodded and followed her.

He followed her.

Suddenly he stopped moving, in the middle of the sidewalk, and watched as she continued walking, oblivious to his halt. Why in Odin's name was he following this human girl into a library? She wasn't powerful at all; she wasn't even an asset to him. The only thing she was good for was to give him information about the race of his future slaves.

The fact that she was the only one in the entire universe, of all universes that he had ever been to, of all the worlds his father ruled and all the worlds that ever existed, she was the only one that understood Loki.

"Loki." He heard. He glanced up and watched as Psyche had turned around and gave him a concerned look, her golden hair that was in her bun had started to fall out and her face was completely pink.

He could turn around. He could give her the book and walk off to his laboratory with Erik and Clint, and get back to work to planning the enslavement of the human race as revenge for Thor.

"You seem conflicted." Psyche suddenly said. She had snuck up on him while he was looking at something other than her, he had forgotten what. She was suddenly standing before him, looking up at him, her stature only reaching up to his chest, which he puffed out slightly when he composed himself.

"I'm not conflicted."

"Oh." Psyche said, "Well you sure look like it. Was it something I said?"

"No." Loki snapped.

Psyche's eyebrows raised in surprise at him.

Loki said suddenly, "In this book, it talked about the psyche. An all encompassing entity that every human has, which involves emotions, the subconscious, and dreams. Psychology is the scientific study of the psyche, or the mind and soul. You study psychology to understand yourself."

Psyche's cheeks got redder, and it wasn't from the wind. Loki had successfully embarrassed her by calling out her entire motive for her study. Sure, she had said it once before that she took it to understand herself, but it meant a whole new thing when it was her name.

"Why do you crave to understand yourself? Why do you wish for an identity?"

"Because I want to know what's wrong with me." Psyche suddenly said, "I wanted to know where I could fit in."

Well. That's one way of doing it, Loki thought.

Psyche smiled at him and it irked him how warm she was compared to his coolness, "Did you want a new book to read?"

"Possibly."

"I know just the one." Psyche said. They were approaching the steps that led the both of the in the Library. Psyche struggled but after a few moments, she opened the large glass door and pushed her way through before letting Loki in as well. She went over to the desk and placed her purse on it, but Loki continued to carry the books. Then she striped herself of her large coat and scarf so she was wearing a sweater and some jeans. She smiled at him and said, "Follow me." And she started to walk into the library with her hands in her hair, fixing up her bun and running her fingers through her hair at the same time. Loki wondered how soft it actually was.

Then he realized he was becoming as stupid as Thor.

"Alright." Psyche said suddenly said, "You know a little bit about psychology, and that's fantastic." Loki noted her sarcasm when she said this, "But human relations are a whole other thing."

"Human relations."

"Emotional intelligence." Psyche explained as she handed him a book titled EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND YOU. Loki took it, his eyebrows arched, as he took a sip.

"Sounds interesting."

"It is." Psyche said, "Emotional intelligence allows someone to perceive, use, understand and manage human emotions. If you're a businessman, you want to know emotional intelligence. It's fantastic during interviews and interrogations."

Loki made a face that showed his interest and he said politely, "Thank you."

"What do you do, anyway?" Psyche asked. "What is your career?" She leaned again the bookcase and observed him sharply, her hip popped out and her arms crossed over her cinched waist. "I've been wondering."

"My career?" Loki said, "I'm an…ambassador."

"An ambassador." Psyche repeated, "For what country?"

"I can't say." Loki said, "I'm not really supposed to be wondering around New York City at the moment."

"One of those CIA funded meetings." Psyche replied, "Wow. You're a lot more impressive than I thought."

Loki smiled.

"And you're spending your time here, talking to me." Psyche ended with deadpan.

"Well, let's just say my colleagues are a little dull."

Psyche all but laughed and went over to one of the shelves on the wall and pulled out a couple of the books before putting Loki's original book back. Loki watched her keenly and noticed how well she knew every single book, how aware she was of the entire library.

"I should leave you." Loki said, "I do have work to do today."

"Right." Psyche replied, "Well. That book—" She tapped her finger upon it as it was in Loki's hand. It didn't move, like stone, for how strong Loki was— "is shorter than the other one. But it's a bit denser."

"I'm sure I'll handle it." Loki said.

Psyche rolled her eyes and nodded as she walked away, "Of course, being the big genius foreign that you are."

"Well at least you acknowledge that." Loki said seriously.

Psyche glanced back at him and said, "Read the book carefully, Mr. Loki."

Loki let out a small, breathy chuckle and started to walk out of the library. He glanced at the counter and saw that the same lady who had helped him—or did not help him—the day before was already sitting at her desk preparing for the day. Upon noticing Loki, she gave him a stern look of disapproval before huffing loudly and bustling upstairs, no doubt to scold Psyche on letting a costumer into the library before opening hours. Loki stopped and watched her stalk off before holding his hand out and magically filling her desk drawer with a few bright green snakes before walking out completely.

When he finally got to his base he was greeted by Erik. "Sir." Erik said, "I've done something really impressive with one of the machines." He said vaguely. Loki glared at him but Erik continued, "It's down in the basement."

"Erik, if this is a scheme to talk to me privately, you can just ask to speak to me privately."

Erik stopped and his shoulders relaxed a little under Loki's scrutiny, "Okay." He said, "I saw that you followed that woman this morning. The one that walked by, with the blond hair."

"Yes."

"I just wanted to say, sir, that fraternizing with humans might not suit you well. Since you pride yourself on being a god."

"Does having relations with a human female makes me less of a god, Erik?"

Erik panicked suddenly. He was stuck. He said quickly, "No sir. No! Nothing could happen to make you less of a g—"

"And does it make me less powerful?"

"No sir!—"

"Does it make the pain that I could make you feel for questioning me less painful?"

Erik shuddered and shook his head quickly, unable to speak any type of words after being called out. He choked and shivered and he seemed, above all things, genuinely terrified of Loki.

"Then." Loki said, "I suspect that it's nothing for you to worry about." And he gave Erik one final glare before stalking away.

Loki went to the chair that was provided for him by his minions to watch over the laboratory. Erik shuffled past him, back to his work, silently. Clint, on the other hand, had been sitting in the middle of the room, on one of the generators, witnessing the whole thing. "She had a nice ass." Clint offered.

Loki glanced at him sourly, "Shut up, Clint."

* * *

So after posting the first chapter, I noticed a lot of alerts so thanks for the interest. I hope I'm just portraying Loki well. In the comics he's a little bit more angry and in the little television show I believe he's on acid. I like the stoney Loki from the movies better, it makes for better analysing. But that's just me, in the end. Anyway, I want to thank anyone for reviewing and giving me feedback and for being interested. I'll update soon!


	3. Lying About

"Here, try this one out." Psyche said as she placed another book in front of Loki. He had made himself home in the library while Clint went off to get a few military planes for their attack on Germany. He leaned back in his chair and picked up the book slowly, eyeing her as she bustled around putting books back.

"This is a novel." Loki pointed out, "Not a psychology book."

"Actually, it's 1984. And trust me, if you want to know about psychological torture, it's in there."

Loki made a noise in his throat that told Psyche he was interested. That was his tell-tale sign of interest now, a simple noise of interest. She went away to continue her work while he read.

Loki had, in the span of four days, read all major theories in regards to psychology, read about the framework and application, learned how to read all emotions that humans can make, had made the elderly librarian duly leave him alone, and had stumped Psyche on what else she could provide for him, which would be why she was giving him novels to read.

"You humans—I mean Americans—really know how to think of ways to harm each other." Loki mused thoughtfully while flipping through 1894.

"That book was written by an Englishmen, but yes, we humans are cruel to each other."

"Why?" Loki asked.

"You know." Psyche suddenly said, stopping in one of her ministrations of a large book that was falling apart. Loki watched as she popped her hip impatiently, and she said, "When you ask questions like that, it seriously makes me think you're stupid or something. Like you haven't been living on Earth fort he past 50 years."

Loki could have corrected her. He seriously could have, but to do so would have insanely alarmed her. So he tried, "Well, it's just that you're the psychologist and all. You know better than anyone else about human behavior."

"You should by now, too, you know."

"I do not know what you know. Especially when it comes to darker things, like this." And he held up 1984.

"There is a saying my professor said once." Psyche said, sighing as she sat down on the table top next to the Norse god. He looked up at her while he leaned against his chair. She continued, "He said that, 'Humans kill like a clock ticks.' As to say, we kill regularly, often, all the time."

"Is this a true statement?"

"Well yes." Psyche said, "And no. We're not all serial killers, I mean."

"No. No you're not. But some of you are."

"Some of _us_are." Psyche corrected, to include him into the generalization, "You're a part of the human race too, you know. Even if you don't want to be." She got up from where she was sitting and pointed to the pile of books on the table, saying gently, "I was hoping you'd—"

"Of course." Loki interrupted, and he got up from where he was sitting and went over to the shelves in the middle of the library. Psyche pointed, and Loki put each book away from her on the top shelf, one by one, just like the gentleman he was raised to be. He wondered if that might be what irked him the most about himself, that no matter how hard he tried, the etiquette that Frigga had instilled in him came all too natural.

"I was hoping you'd help me find a different book today." Loki said, while he reached up to put a particular large book away, "A book about Norse Mythology."

She smiled up at him and handed him the last book, pointing to where it should go, before saying, "I'll grab something for you." And she trotted away. Loki noticed she was wearing a tight A-line skirt that day.

When she returned she handed him a book titled ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY. "It has Roman and Greek in there too."

Loki took it smoothly and opened it, finding himself, or the human version of Loki, immediately. He started to skin the page while he stood in the middle of the aisle:

_Loki is the mythical Norse god of Mischief and Chaos, best known for gaining favor with his fellow gods, as well as causing confusion or delusion among them as well. Loki is the father of-_

"Um.."

Loki glanced up from the corner of his eye. Psyche was leaning against one of the pillars but she was looking outside. "Is something wrong?" He asked.

"Sorry." She started before she even continued, "But I read this today." She reached out and handed a newspaper to him.

Loki picked it up and read it. The headline said, in loud letters, BE SAFE TONIGHT. Loki's eyes scanned down quickly to read an article about a gang of thieves who had been stalking about New York City, stealing bits and pieces of metals and resources. Planes, cars, and food had been stolen already, and the article even warned that young woman to not walk home at night. Just in case material things weren't all they were stealing.

Loki raised his eyebrows, "Sounds serious." Even the humans were catching on now, Loki thought. Clint had been doing a great job in getting him supplies, and though it had occurred to Loki that the humans would notice, he didn't expect them to be bright enough to figure out it was the same group. And to even know that the group was a safety threat, well, that was just insightful. Loki would have to mention this to the others, especially Clint, about keeping a lower key until Germany.

"Yeah." Psyche's awkward affirmation cut off his train of thought.

Loki looked up at her. The sweater she was wearing fluffed up around her as she stood there, pressed against the pillar hugging herself and looking down. Loki looked down too but there was nothing—this was her human behavior. Nervous, thought Loki.

"I was hoping you'd walk me home." She finally asked, "I'm a little paranoid after reading about them. These new terrorists. That's what the lady on the news called them today."

"Terrorists?" Loki replied. A little harsh, he thought.

"Yeah." She said again. She pushed herself off the pillar and added, "Of course, you don't have to. But I'd just feel better to have someone for company."

"It'd be my pleasure." Loki suddenly said. He got up from where he was sitting and asked, "You wouldn't mind if I borrowed this?"

"No." Psyche said, "You can have it. I'll get my things. Did you want to check out 1984 and the mythology book?" But she asked this as she walked away. Loki always found it odd how she did that. Just walked away casually while saying something that involved a reply. If he had ever done that to his father—actually Thor's father—he'd be reprimanded. He waited silently until she came back, opting to not yell across the library for her attention.

The air had gotten colder for the humans but it didn't bother Loki at all. But Psyche, he wondered, why she never actually wore clothes that would keep her warm. "I'm only a couple blocks away." She apologized, all the while looking in and around alleyways and into dark windows for any signs of a killer. Loki had his forearm stretched out to her so she could take it, and she had. Currently she had both her hands clutched around his bicep in a death grip.

If only she knew that the one that was protecting her, was the leader of this gang.

"You seem paranoid." Loki stated, "But why? You have me here."

"But you're not always going to be here." Psyche pointed out, "I'm not going to ask you to walk me home every single night. You have a life, too, you know." She said this as she spun around to look behind herself.

They were passing Loki's hideout by this point, of which Loki glanced in to see Clint sitting next to one of the windows, watching him. Loki nodded before glancing at Psyche. She had looked right at Clint, his arrows gleaming and his dead blue eyes shining in the moonlight. She hadn't noticed him. Loki inwardly sighed.

"Maybe we should get our mind off it." Psyche said, and she straightened up a bit and sniffed in the cold air before continuing, "We'll do a psychological experiment while we walk."

"Alright." Loki complied, "What is this experiment?"

"If you were to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?" Loki looked down at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her nose was red, and it irked him so how she kept sniffling. She said quickly, "It's often an interview question…"

"Three words." Loki mused out loud before thinking.

Outcast. Vengeful. Menacing.

However, he said, "Male. Quiet. Inquisitive?" Loki tried.

"You're lying."

Loki stopped walking and so did she, though her hands were still wrapped around his arm. "What makes you think I'm lying?"

Psyche looked into him and Loki would admit, only to himself, that when she looked at him,_ really_looked at him, with her chestnut eyes flicking between his and her soft eyebrows becoming slightly furrowed, it unnerved him. They became as sharp as his knives sometimes. Psyche said to him, "You took a while to answer. It takes less time to tell the truth."

"Then I am not a male, quiet and inquisitive?" Loki challenged.

"Oh, you are." Psyche said, "But those weren't the words that first came to your mind."

"What does it matter?" Loki argued, "Does not everyone have a secret opinion of themselves that they do not share?"

Psyche nodded and looked down at the arm she was holding. But she said something that struck Loki, "Yes. But you've been lying the entire time."

Loki didn't say anything for a while. At first he thought she was talking about the experiment she just pulled on him, but he knew she wasn't. She was talking about their entire relationship, since the moment he met her; she knew he had been concealing himself the entire time.

"Then you, too, have been lying." Loki said softly.

"I was interested in you." She suddenly blurted out, and Loki became taken aback. But Psyche continued, "You know. This silent, polite, smart but socially awkward guy comes along and I immediately wanted to understand him. But there's something about you." She went on, "Something…different than to what I am. Something you're hiding. I noticed it the second I saw you and I'm still trying to figure it out."

"Then is it possible?" Loki said softly, reaching up and unlatching her arm before reaching up to pull off his scarf, the cold air feeling gentle and somewhat warm to the skin on the back of his neck, "That I have finally met my match, in lying?"

"You consider me your equal?"

"Yes."

Psyche's eyebrows rose instantly, as fast as he replied. Then to Loki's utter surprise, she burst into laughter and had to cover her mouth so as not to offend him too much. Loki stared at her and watched her silently as she laughed. At him?

"You really are a bad liar." She giggled out.

Loki puffed out an exasperated sigh before reaching over to wrap his scarf around her neck a few times before covering her mouth with it. "We should hurry before you freeze. Or those terrorists come to kill us."

Her eyes became stone but he couldn't see her frown, and she mumbled, "That's not funny at all…"

Loki only made an amused noise in his throat and offered her his arm before he continued walking. She complied but only because it was easier to deal with him and live than to be pulled away by a murderer.

"Over here." Her muffled voice came from his scarf, "Just there."

It seemed that her home was a little townhouse in the middle of New York, about a block away from where his hideout was. It was old and large and there was ivy growing on the front wall of her house to the roof, where it bunched up over the door. Lights were already on as well. "Someone's home." Loki observed.

"I live with two roommates from my university." Psyche explained as they stopped in front of the staircase. "One is doing an arts degree and the other one just smokes pot all day."

Loki snorted quietly.

"Well." Psyche said casually, "What will you do tomorrow with the library closed?"

"I'll find things to do." Loki said calmly. "Maybe you can spend your day investing in actual warm clothing." Loki suggested.

Psyche shook her head in what he deduced was a laugh and started to take his scarf off while saying, "Here."

"No no. Keep it." Loki said, "You need it far more than I do." Her sharp eyes searched his face, criticizing him. Loki said quickly, "You don't always have to be so suspicious. I swear, I have no alternative motives."

"Then goodnight." She mumbled while laughing. She gave him one last look as she turned around to head into her townhouse. The grip that she had on his arm left him, and it felt cold in that one spot only.

The inside of the townhouse was, very much so, owned by three university bachelorettes that had no idea how to actually run a house of their own. In fact, to be honest, they weren't really sure what they were doing at university either. But the walls were covered in bits of paintings from the arts student, the shelves were filled to the brim of psychology and human relations books, most handed down from the library, and the whole house smelled like a certain herb. To Psyche, it was her home away from home.

"I'm sorry, young lady, but don't you have a curfew?" Said one of her roommates, with black hair that was cut bluntly around her chin, and bangs that stopped in one straight line over her eyebrows. Her eyes were a shocking green and it had taken Psyche a couple of months alone to be used to her lurking figure.

"Sorry." Psyche said, "I got caught up."

"I saw." Missy stated blandly, "He's cute."

"He's foreign." Psyche stated.

"What does he do?" Said a redhead from behind Psyche, her name being Wendy. She had a blunt in between her fingers as she asked.

"He's an ambassador." Psyche stated.

"That's a pretty nice lie." Missy said, "He looked pretty shady."

"He's not shady at all." Psyche said, "He's actually really lovely."

"What's his name?" Wendy asked while she blew out a balloon of smoke, "You do know his name, don't you?"

"It's Loki."

"Like the god of Thunder?" Wendy asked.

"I think it might be a different one." Psyche whispered thoughtfully.

"And his last name?"

Psyche glanced between the two of them and then suddenly turned to Wendy, "To be fair, you don't know the last name of half of the guys you're with."

"But they don't call themselves ambassadors." Missy stated, "That's a great way to lure young woman. Calling themselves ambassadors."

Psyche made a disgusted noise with her throat and rolled her eyes at her roommates.

"You should follow him home for once." Wendy stated, "You know. Find out what he's all about. Turn the tables a little bit on your creepiness"

Psyche glared at the two of them as she ran her fingers over the scarf that was laid over her shoulders. "That's distrustful."

"Psyche." Miss stated as she got up from where she was doodling, "We're just looking out for you. If he's from out of town, he'll be going home soon, won't he?"

"Possibly." Psyche said.

"And you know where he's staying?" Asked Wendy.

"Just down the block."

"Then I suggest." Wendy said while she twiddled her blunt in her fingers and let the smoke flow out of her nose, "That when he's out of town, you pay that house a visit."

Psyche shook her head and left the two of them to their own devices, before she started to get ready for bed. She placed Loki's scarf over one of her chairs and stared at it for a moment, wondering how many layers Loki actually had, and how far down she currently was.

Meanwhile, Loki had just returned to Clint, who hadn't moved at all since they passed. Clint smiled blandly at his boss and said, "Midnight stroll?"

Loki ignored his comment and went over to hand him the newspaper, "You're making people notice."

"Well." Clint stated as he took the newspaper, "You try stealing a military plane and have no one notice. Especially after your little stint at S.H.I.E.L.D."

"How long until Germany?" Loki asked.

"Getting antsy?" Clint asked, but he shook his head at his boss' disgruntled face and folded up the newspaper, "I have a week left. We'll have to get some ammunition tomorrow."

Loki nodded and allowed his clothes to turn to their normal Norse style before he turned to dismiss himself, opting to rest alone, but Clint said behind him, "Where's your scarf?"

Loki turned around in his walking and gave Clint a stern look, "You know exactly where it is."

"Yeah." Clint said as he got up from his hiding spit and looked out to the city with an amused smile, "I just like asking."

* * *

I didn't realise how much attention this would get. I'm getting a lot of alerts for this story, so thanks for that! I'm going to be really honest, I'm having trouble writing both these characters. My female characters are always just full of fire, but I'm writing Psyche as a bit of a Sue because that's how Psyche in the myth is. For Loki, I rewatched Thor and tried to figure out how to keep in him character and I think I was writing him a bit too hard? Anyway, I hope, at least, that you guys like it overall. Thanks so much for reading!


	4. Slutty Complications

Psyche awoke the next morning to be greeted by Wendy, smoking as per usual, only this time she was standing in front of the television in mere shock, watching the news channel report. Psyche approached her and watched as well.

The lady on the television, with orange hair and a body that was too small, said out loud:

_"Last night, it's been confirmed the secret gang that's been parading around New York has gotten a hold of some ammunition. They stole it from a nearby military base right under the noses of all people in command. We state here on Channel 9 that your safety is our greatest interest, and we ask that everyone stay inside until further notice."_

"Well shit." Wendy snapped.

"I have to go to work in Monday." Psyche pointed out.

"Your books are more important than being alive? You do realize that there are killers on the loose!"

Psyche ignored her and went to the kitchen to prepare a piece of toast. Wendy followed her and continued, "So has Loki called?"

"He doesn't have my number." Psyche explained.

"What?" Wendy asked, "No booty-calling?"

"I suspect that Loki isn't the kind." Psyche said under her breath before catching the toast as it popped up.

Wendy decided to change the subject, "Missy and I are going out tonight. Drinks are half off to university students down at Pubbsies. Why not come along?"

"I have to work on my thesis." Psyche stated as she went to the fridge for butter.

"I'm sure your thesis can wait for a few hours." Wendy went on, "You need a break. All you do is work and study."

"That's all I have." Psyche pointed out. Missy, despite her talent for art, came from a very well off family that was paying her way through college. Wendy's parents were dentists. "Plus, didn't you just watch the news? Or has your marijuana finally affected your short-term memory? It does that, you know."

Wendy glared at her and took another suck of her blunt.

"It's also a psychological gateway drug." Psyche said while pointing at her, "If you have serial killer tendencies they can manifest themselves when your brain—"

"Psyche." Wendy snapped, "Just for once. Dress up like a slut and come dancing with us. Stop being so nervous."

Psyche gave her an argued look, but eventually she sighed and slumped her shoulders in somewhat defeat before saying dully, "Yes. Yes, sure, I could use a night off."

"When's that thesis due, anyway?" Came Missy's voice. From inside the pantry.

"About two months."

Missy appeared by coming out of the pantry, with a jar of jam for Psyche and her large vintage camera in her hand. She had obviously been taking some type of photos using the warm golden lighting she got from the pantry's antique light bulb. She often did that. "Great." Missy said, "That's plenty of time. You're almost done too."

"Then you'll have your second degree." Wendy added, "And maybe then we'll pay attention to your little speeches." She and Missy laughed at this.

"We'll go shopping today." Wendy suggested.

"Loki did say I should get warmer clothes." Psyche mused out loud.

"I meant for a skimpy dress." Wendy said, "I'm sure he won't mind."

Psyche made a disgusted noise and left the two of them to get ready. A day of shopping with these two was going to take all the willpower she had not to just dump the both of them and bury herself in a good book. And to be fair, both Wendy and Missy were lovely companions to live with, Psyche thought. They had been there for her when she needed them most, during those late nights of her having to write her essays, in which they went out into the cold for her and got her coffee and energy drinks. The two of them always made her laugh and made her branch out. Since living with them, Psyche figured that she had experienced a million new things that she wouldn't otherwise try. However, all this being said, Wendy and Missy did tend to overstay their welcome in her presence.

"There." Wendy smiled as she took a few steps away from Psyche. "Thoroughly slut-tastic."

"I don't think I want to look like that." Psyche tried.

"Nonsense. You look great." Missy added, wearing a pink dress that left nothing to the imagination. Absolutely nothing, Psyche thought with worry.

Wendy wasn't anything better, opting for something so low cut that Psyche knew she'd be tugging at the dip in the top of dress all night. Until she became far too drunk, or high, to care.

"We'll freeze." Psyche snapped to her friends as they got ready by the door, "Can't I just wear my work coat?"

"No." Wendy said, "That coat is ugly. And trust me, once we get to the club it'll warm up." And when she said this, her eyebrows wiggled.

Psyche waited for the two of them to leave the house and wait for her at the bottom of the steps as she got her smaller, lighter jacket on. She paused and looked at herself in the mirror. Certainly not as bad as the other two, having spent almost all of the day debating against them when they tried to make her wear a dress that looked like their own. But it was slutty, to Psyche's standards. And far too high up there and down low there for it to be a comfortable night. She knew she'd be spending the entire time standing at the bar, too afraid to sit in case the hem of her black dress rode up, and too afraid to dance incase something popped out. "At least I don't look too much like a prostitute." Psyche said out loud. Her long golden hair had been pulled back in a tight bun by Missy, and Psyche couldn't really put her finger on why, but it irked her so to not have her tresses waving freely.

"You're wearing a coat out clubbing?" Wendy criticized, "How are you going to get laid?"

"I don't know if this has ever occurred to you." Psyche stated, "But sometimes, people just don't feel like getting laid."

"It hasn't…" Wendy smiled.

"Well!" Came a voice that wasn't Missy's, or Wendy's, or Psyche's. And Psyche had never heard it before. It was a male's voice, albeit a little high, and it was extremely, extremely amused.

Psyche turned and was greeted by Clint and godforsaken Loki, who had a very confused look upon his face when he saw how much of her leg he was seeing.

"Loki—" Psyche stared, "How are you?" She said softly, shrinking back against his stare.

"Fine." Loki said calmly, despite his expression, "Though if I remember correctly, we agreed on you getting warmer clothes."

"We're…About to go out to a club."

"Oh." Clint said, interested, "Which one? I'm Clint, by the way. I've heard a lot about you." He reached out and shook Psyche's hand under Loki's icy glare. "Now he said you were pretty, but he never said you were this."

The blush of mortification that crept up Psyche's neck and down her exposed collarbone was unmistakable.

Wendy, however, ignored the exchange between the god and her roommate and looked straight to Clint, "Your eyes are really red. Do you smoke the herb?"

Clint leaned back and moved his hand in the air to demonstrate, "It's like this really trippy, out of this world, blue scepter-esq drug." He smiled back to his boss, who was positively fuming, and he said, "It's pretty intense."

"Oh my goodness." Breathed Wendy, "Do you have any with you?"

"No but I bet Loki does."

"Clint." Came Loki's harsh warning.

"Psyche, Wendy, my cooch is an icicle. We need to go." Missy stated.

But Loki was too busy staring straight at Psyche with consideration, and Psyche was too busy watching his own bodily movements, to see what he considered. They were in the middle of a silent standoff, as far as Clint was concerned.

Loki came to the conclusion that the makeup that Psyche was wearing bothered him. Instead of seeing her sharp glowing eyes, the black material made her look almost dead and boring, like she had spent a few years in Jotunheim, dying a slow and cold death. Her lips were covered in red and Loki hated red to begin with. Her hair was sleeked back and like Psyche, Loki didn't like it. It hardened her. And though Loki would be the first to admit that as a Norse god, attempting to rule over all of Earth by staring a war, using mind control on Erik and Clint, and threatening the safety of all worlds in the Nine Worlds, he still preferred to see Psyche as something soft, not hard like him.

"You look…different." Loki started.

"Good different or bad different?"

Loki swallowed hard and pursed his lips before saying, "It does not look…unappealing. Just different."

"You're still bad at lying."

"To be fair." Loki stated, "I don't believe I'm trying to lie around you any longer." He flicked his eyes to a snorting Clint as he said this.

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Psyche asked. "Are you going to another meeting?"

"Yes." Loki stated, "We have to meet with another one of our ambassadors, but because of time we're having the conference now."

"Oh." Psyche said awkwardly, standing there in front of what she thought was an international government ambassador, and she was wearing a slutty dress.

"We leave this week." Loki broke the silence.

"For good?" Psyche asked.

"Not for good." Loki said, "But it will be a goodbye for you and me."

Wendy, Missy and Clint made a chorus of emphasizing noise.

"You'll come to the library to say goodbye, right?"

"Certainly." Loki said, "So long as you're wearing proper clothes." And Psyche's cheeks only got brighter.

"Come _on_." Missy hissed before grabbing her friend's arm and pulled her slightly, before she said kindly to Loki and his lackey, "She'll see you this week. Nice meeting you!" And the three of them shuffled away in a mass of taunt skin and bright colors. Loki watched as Psyche, though being dragged away, still turned to watch him, her eyes never leaving his. She was analyzing him with those eyes, he could feel her mental tentacles invade his mind.

Loki then said, "I have half of mind to just kill you now."

Clint made a few careful steps in a circle before saying, "Who will drive the jeep tonight, then?"

Loki sighed loudly and watched as Psyche's small form was pushed around a corner before he glanced at Clint. "Well, then, let's go." And he started to walk away.

"The redhead was nice." Clint said as they walked, "I think I have a thing for redheads."

"You do." Loki said to his companion, "You've always liked Black Widow."

"But she's a little too stern, don't you think?" Clint said, "You know. Too rough."

Loki dragged his hand over his mouth and went to the jeep that was in the middle of the alleyway they used to hide it. He got in, opting to sit in the passenger seat instead of the back this time. When Clint got in and reeved the engine, he said calmly, "You like Psyche, then, don't you."

"Moderately." Loki sighed as he leaned out the window to watch how close Clint was getting to the wall. "I suppose if it's going to be any mortal…"

"A cross race relationship?" Clint said, amazed, "The Great God of Mischief would allow this?"

Loki shook his head and said, "She has a very unearthly quality to her. As muddled and awkward as she is."

"And her name's Psyche, huh?" Clint said, "How ironic."

"We better hurry." Loki said, though, before Clint to carry on for much longer, "If we're going to get that last part for the eye."

Clint was silent for the majority of the ride as they road through New York, Loki watching the lights pass by. The neon hurt his eyes a little bit, having been used to the golden soft lights of Asgard.

"What else?" Clint asked, "What else does she have?"

"I'm not sure." Loki said gruffly, "Just something."

"Well." Clint said, "Let's just hope you taking over the Earth doesn't hurt your chances."

Loki glared at him in one of the most menacing ways, so much that Clint did a bit of a double-take.

"Oh." Clint said, "That's it, then. You're afraid she'll reject you because of your actions."

"I know she'll reject me." Loki stated, "I'm simply waiting for it."

"If you know it's going to happen." Clint started, "Then why bother getting close to her now?"

Loki just shook his head at him, only glancing at him for a few moments before looking out the window once again. He'd miss New York, he thought. He might make New York his place of residence when this was all over. When he and Psyche were all over. And to answer Clint's question, he said, "It's complicated."

"Not yet." Clint drawled out.

* * *

Ever notice how Clint always gets the last say? Anyway, it's a little short but the next update should be within the weekend and it'll be a bit of a big one. Thanks SO much for reading and alerting and reviewing! I'm so grateful for the feedback! xxxxx!


	5. Mythical Connections

_**Common Concerns and Questions from readers:  
**_  
_Psyche is a little Mary-Sue._  
_Yes. Yes, I've purposefully written Psyche to be a Mary-Sue. She's pretty, she's weak, and she won over a god with nothing but her awkward personality and looks. You are correct, good sir._

_WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?_  
_Because if you have ever read the original Greek Myth of Cupid and Psyche, you would notice that the original Psyche is pretty, weak, and she won over a god with nothing but her looks as well. Greek Psyche #1 is the inspiration for Loki's Psyche #2. I named this OC Psyche in hope that someone would get the connection but-_

_What happens in the myth?_  
_Cupid falls in love with Psyche, but must keep his identity from her in their marriage because of him being, well, a god. He does this by only coming home during the night to make love to Psyche before leaving during the day. Psyche is tempted by her two jealous and less beautiful sisters to betray Cupid's trust and shine a candle upon him to see who he is. And then other stuff._

_So what's with all the psychology mumbo-jumbo?_  
_Because I believe that Loki's psychology is very interesting, so I just added that twist. And also because her name is Psyche.  
_

* * *

For the first couple of days during the week, Psyche was tense in anticipation for seeing Loki. After encountering him and his high friend, she, Wendy and Missy went on to the club. Only that Missy and Wendy got blind and went off to spend the night with a few boys—Psyche had walked herself home at 4am in the morning. Bored, annoyed, and terrified.

She had walked right past Loki's hideout while going the long way home instead of her normal shortcut, and she had taken a glance inside the windows. Loki had been off with Clint to get the last instrument he needed for Germany, and thus wasn't around to see Psyche pass. But she saw nothing, only an empty room with a chair in the middle. "Must live upstairs." Psyche mumbled to herself. She had taken a few steps away from the building and looked up, but she noticed that all the windows looked like they hadn't been opened for years. The townhouse itself was old, with a single living room window in the front, and a secret military based Captain America making laboratory in the basement. But it looked untouched, as far as Psyche was concerned.

She had half a mind to knock on the door to see if Loki was there. She wondered if he was still at his meeting. If he was, if he didn't answer, she could possibly just take a peek in. To just see. If her roommates were correct or not.

_"Then when he's out of town, you pay that house a visit." _

That was Wendy's suggestion. To pay this house a visit. To really, finally, see what Loki was all about.

But Psyche had turned from the house after hearing a noise and rushed back home, to be alone in her room, doing a little psychological research.

That week, every morning, Psyche had a feeling that someone was watching her each time she passed his house. It was almost as if the house itself knew she almost snooped, almost broke the fragile string of trust between she and Loki. But she had tried to dismiss it every time and went straight to work, getting her coffee on the way.

So Psyche was sitting in the middle of the library on a raining evening, re-alphabetizing the books on one of the shelves. A first year teaching major had come in and looked for Gardner's learning styles without asking Psyche for help, and despite this student striving to become a primary teacher, she obviously didn't know how to put books back where they're supposed to be when she was finished with them. Psyche had been greeted by an entire pile of out of order books just at the end of the shelf, and with a great huff she had went over to retrieve and tidy them.

It was close to closing as well, Psyche noticed. And it was already Wednesday. Just half and hour left and she'd be able to go home and rest her feet. Or get back to that thesis.

"Hiding behind a pile of books." Loki approached deafly, making Psyche look up suddenly, "Well at least you're wearing clothes tonight."

Psyche stood up quickly and tucked her hair behind her ear nervously. It was true, this night she was wearing a long sleeved dress and very warm leggings with boots, because of the rain. "You're late."

Loki's eyebrows went up, "I didn't know I was supposed to be here at a certain time. Did we agree on one?"

"No." Psyche said, "No. We didn't."

"Then how am I late?"

"I'm not sure." Psyche said, standing there awkward, "You just are."

"Well I'm here now." Loki attempted to dismiss it while he shook some of the water off his umbrella, "We're getting on the plane tonight."

Psyche looked up at him. Her cheeks were red from her outburst and her eyes looked like amber on fire, it was startling to Loki. How intense she could look, how saturated and alive she seemed compared to his cold, silver and green persona. She was absolutely illogical sometimes, it was insane to him.

"Well." Psyche stood there, "Goodbye?"

Loki nodded and sighed. Why was he feeling as awkward as she was feeling?

"Oh!" Psyche tried, "I have your scarf here. Are you sure you don't need it back?"

"Keep it." Loki said, "To remember me by."

"Oh." She flushed, "Sure."

Loki went over to the table she was standing behind and reaching into his coat before placing the mythology book and 1984 on the tabletop. "Thank you for letting me borrow these. They were very interesting, though I only had time to read up on the Norse Mythology."

"That's fine." Psyche said. She paused and brushed her hand over the front of the book before asking, "Loki? Where are you from, anyway?"

"Norway." Loki stated matter-of-factly. "Couldn't you tell from my name?"

"Oh." Psyche laughed awkwardly, "I should have guessed…" Psyche looked at the Mythology book silently before looking up at him suddenly, "And before you go. I never got your last name."

"Didn't you?" Loki asked, "My mistake. It's Laufeyson. I'm Loki Laufeyson."

"Oh. Okay, right." She smiled and stood there, behind the table that was separating the two of them. She swung her hips gently in her inner-debate and Loki watched her sharply. He was clenching and unclenching his fists, trying to figure out why he was feeling as awkward as she was, having been of such smooth tongue. He had conversed diplomatically with the Frost Giants, had always been eloquent, had always known what to say. Until now.

Psyche, though, while he was thinking this, decided that against any odds of professionalism, she would guts up. She swiftly shifted her hips around the table silently and started to walk up to him quickly, and before he could stop her, though he wasn't sure if he would have wanted to, it was too late to think about that at the moment, for she had walked up to him in a flurry of emotion and wrapped her arms around his neck, though she had to stand on the tips of her toes a little bit to reach him properly. Loki stood still for just a moment, half a moment, before he remembered that it took longer to lie than to tell the truth, and he allowed his arms to slide up her back and pull her to him.

Psyche accepted his reply and buried her nose in the crook of his neck. He smelled like pinecones and winter, fresh and clean. Loki noticed as he leaned down to her, that she smelled like honey and Asgard rising over the sunset. And they stayed this way, for a few more moments, frozen but surprisingly not tense. For the first time in his life, while travelling to all parts of the Nine Worlds, Loki felt at home.

And then Psyche said into the collar of his coat, but he heard it as clear as day. "I'm so glad I got to meet you."

I'm so glad, she had said. So glad, he thought. So glad to have met him.

When Erik explained to Loki what it felt like when his scepter penetrated his heart and took over his mind, he had said that it was like seeing truth, like being at peace. Like it being a wave of relief washing over him and for Loki, the only difference between the power of the Tesseract and Psyche's words, was that a sharp piercing went through him when she had said it.

Loki only pulled away when he thought he heard a sniffle of some sort. He glanced down at her, and sure enough, her eyes had become puffy and red and her face was pink. His mouth hung open in silent shock, but Psyche took it as being confused. She laughed it off and said softly, "Sorry. I'm pretty emotional." She shrugged in his arms and shook her head, obviously trying to keep the tears from over spilling onto her cheeks, and she said, "I cried when my hamster died last month." She downplayed. And the tears walloped onto her cheeks.

Loki reached up with his thumb and brushed one of her cheeks, her face flinched in surprise as he did, and Loki lifted his hand up to look at the wetness between his fingers. They almost burned his skin. "I should get going." Loki whispered more to himself than to Psyche. He only did have to whisper, her being in such close proximity.

Psyche nodded but she didn't move. She stood there stiffly, staring at his tie. Loki was too busy watching her deep moist eyes flicker back and forth from his tie to his jacket.

"Okay." Loki whispered calmly, and after gently squeezing her hips with his hands, for they were so small he could do this, he took his step back and let her hands slide down his arms to land at her sides limply. Loki did a quick nod, and he smiled at her, or at least tried to but it came out as a pained grimace, and he turned around to travel down the flight of stairs, though the library.

Psyche went to the railing and stood here, watching his figure move through the library silently. He gave a weak wave to the elderly librarian before turning to the doors, opening them swiftly, and leaving the building.

Outside, Loki was greeted but Clint and Erik, waiting in the jeep for him. He took in a hard breath and got in as well, making Erik sit in the back. "How'd it go?" Clint asked.

"Fine." Loki stated.

Clint watched his boss for a few moments before staring the car, "Alright. Off to Germany we go."

Loki leaned his head on the window of the jeep limply and watched the world through prickling eyes as Clint rambled on about how this gadget would be able to get him a proper encoding of the eye he needed. "Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to get iridium we go." Clint sang as he drove—Loki ignored him.

Back at the library, Psyche had turned around to put the books away that Loki had given back. She picked up 1984 first and shifted through the pages, going over the procedure of checking that the occupant before hadn't forgotten a bookmark or paper. When she was done, she picked up the mythology book and opened it as well. Loki had left nothing behind, but Psyche couldn't help but turn to the chapter dedicated to the Norse god, Loki. She figured it was to see his name written, or something to remind her of him. He said it himself he was very closely like the Norse god himself. That was his first little pun, Psyche thought as she turned to the chapter of Norse Mythology.

She read a few lines to begin,

_"Norse Mythology is a branch of Mythology often told in Germanic cultures, such as Germany, Denmark, Sweden, but most notably Norway."_

Psyche raised furrowed her eyebrows and turned a few more pages, passing Thor and Odin. She came to Loki's page, and noticed that this page had obviously been read extensively by Loki, since there was a crease along the side. She read what Loki had started reading when he first got the book, but then continued:

"_Loki is the mythical Norse god of Mischief and Chaos, best known for gaining favor with his fellow gods, as well as causing confusion or delusion among them as well. Loki is the father of a few different creatures, having been an avid shape shifter. Loki is also the son of Farbauti and Laufey."_

"The son of Laufey?" Whispered Psyche into the book, and she sat down on one of the chairs and continued reading. Loki the Norse god of Mischief was the son of Laufey.

"Loki Laufeyson." She whispered, "From Norway…"

The elderly librarian had shuffled up the steps of the library and said gruffly, "It's closing time, Psyche. You haven't gotten the books put away, yet? Why is your face red?"

"It's nothing." Psyche snapped, and she got up and shut the book before reaching over to grab the coat that the librarian had presented to her, "Do you mind closing up? I need to check something."

"Certainly." Said the hag, and she watched as Psyche thanked her quickly and started to run to the door. She ripped it open and looked around through the rain to see if Loki was still wondering around. But of course he wouldn't be. He had said that he would be leaving right after he visited her. She opened her umbrella and stuffed the Norse Mythology book in her bag before turning to walk down the street.

In the rain, in the darkness, Psyche felt colder than she had ever felt. But she suspected that it wasn't because of the weather this time, it was because of a nagging feeling she had in the back of her brain.

When she got to Loki's hideout, she went to place her face against the wet window again. Nothing; all the exactly the same. Psyche sighed and looked around herself before trying the door. Either it was locked or jammed. But when Psyche took her hand off and saw the dirt on her palm, and thus went to get a closer look, she realized that there were bunches of damp cobwebs all along the door frame and window. This door hadn't been opened for a very, very long time.

Psyche took a few steps away from the building and stood in the middle of the sidewalk. It took her a few moments with the side of her face being covered in rain water, but after looking at the house frame, and then to the surrounding houses, she finally noticed the alleyway. She went into it briskly, pulling her coat all the more closer.

The alley had a few doors, but most, if not all, were covered in the same type of muck that the front door had. This area itself hadn't been touched for a long time. Psyche noticed, finally, that there was one door in the very back, in the darkest part of the alley, that was clean. Reaching over slowly, she turned the knob and realized that it was not only open, but not alarmed. She slipped inside and allowed the heavy, metal door to slam behind her before she put her umbrella down and shook the rain out of her locks.

She was thus presented with a long corridor, lit with a few emergency lights that gave off an orange glow. Everything was concrete, and Psyche noted that the footprints on the floor left behind were still wet.

She took a few steps and stopped. Then a couple more and stopped. No alarms; she was all alone.

She was all alone because Loki had decided to not only leave New York, but abandon his little haven in favor for Stark Tower. He didn't need this little hole any longer. Not when he'd be able to control the entire human race in a few days.

The corridor reminded her of jail and Psyche realized that it was larger than a basement would be for just one house. This wasn't just a basement, it was something secret. Something old and dangerous. She walked on.

When she got to the main room, she was overwhelmed by all the equipment that she found. Old guns, everywhere, and old lab coats that had been left behind. Everything had been cleaned and organized, but the place still looked antique. A giant coffin looking machine, which used to hold Captain America, was the only thing with dust upon it.

The computers were all off, but one. It was gently beeping with its monitor asleep. Obviously one of Loki's more oblivious workers had forgotten to turn everything off in their escape, and Psyche took the liberty to go over to the monitor and switch it on. It whirled to life and Psyche watched as the screen became black, with a lot of coding that she didn't understand. Then there she saw the blueprints of a bright blue cube she had never seen before, and she finally read something about iridium. Eventually, she read about how whomever used to work down here were planning on stealing this element for the use of what they called the Tesseract, and an army called Chitauri from outer space were to be sent to Earth for war.

"Sounds like a comic book." Whispered Psyche as she scrolled through the screen. She turned around and looked at the piles of ammunition that were in the corner, all discarded in favor of bigger and better guns. She reached into her back and pulled out the damp mythology book and flipped it open to Loki's chapter, "Or..like a myth…"

And the digital clock at the top right hand of the computer screen changed to 10:06pm.

* * *

To be honest, I wasn't expecting just all the...attention this story has been getting. I'm so glad some of you guys are liking it. I'm pretty nervous about how I'm writing them but thanks SO much for the alerts and reviews! They're helping, trust me! Thanks for reading!


	6. Waiting

10:06pm, that's what the clock said on the flying ship. And set to New York time. Perfect! Loki glanced around himself as he was escorted through the metal corridors, looking through glass windows, at all the machines that were whirling away. He had seen Thor already, had almost been sent home with his brother had he not sent the Tesseract away with Clint and Erik.

The soldiers turned him and Loki watched as he passed a laboratory that contained Bruce Banner, or the Hulk, as it was explained by Clint. Human behavior lesson number one: When one smiles, it often means happiness and sincerity. When an enemy smiles, it means mockery and is considered a threat. So while silently thanking Psyche for that book, Loki made direct eye contact with Bruce, and smiled.

Before Loki knew it, he was locked up in a circular cage. Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and an all around unamusing human had just offered a magazine sarcastically.

Loki walked around the small circle silently before he heard his brother thumping down the stairs. Thor stopped just outside the glass and watched as Loki turned around slowly. They stared at each other for a few moments.

"Brother—" Thor started.

"None of that." Loki finished. "I'm already locked up. I'm obviously the bad guy."

"You don't have to be." Thor continued, "I could take you home. Right here, right now."

"Without seeing your beloved human woman?" Loki asked. "That's a shame. I thought you'd at least visit her." He smiled at his brother's stricken face before pacing a little bit, and saying, "Women hate it when you're late."

"How would you know?" Thor suddenly asked, and Loki's turn was so sharp that Thor was caught off guard. Thor stopped as well, he was pacing because that seemed to be something that demigods liked to do. But Thor's stop was not as smooth as Loki's, it was more obvious, it was sharper. "You've met a woman?"

"I didn't say I did."

"But you're acting like you did."

"How on all of the Nine Worlds could you possibly think that I would subject myself to loving a mortal woman?"

"Because you use long phrases when you're covering up…" Thor said dully.

Loki took a few steps away from him and sized him up through the glass. Thor was right, Loki knew Thor was right, Thor, surprisingly, knew that Thor was right. And this whole conversation may or may not be broadcasted all over the ship for all his enemies to watch.

"Well." Loki stated, "It doesn't matter. Not any more."

Thor gave him a disappointed look, "But why? Why wouldn't it matter?"

"Because it's 10:20pm. And if she's as bright as I presume her to be, she'll already know enough about me to steer clear."

Thor glared at him, "What did you do to her?"

Loki shook his head, "Nothing. She helped me, though. She's very resourceful. Very intelligent. For example, did you know a form of torture in Human Classical Literature is to have a rat chew one's face off?"

Thor looked shocked, "She helped you find this?"

"That and many more." Loki explained, "She'll be the perfect asset." Loki shrugged his shoulders and smiled, seeming to be all the more content, before saying, "I do need some human allies, other than the army."

"So you made a young woman fall in love with you…" Thor calculated, "So you could find ways to torture them her own kind?"

"They think us odd, brother." Loki said from his seat, "Have you read up on Norse Mythology? I sometimes become a horse, apparently." He gave a gesture of surprise, "They're inventive, that's for sure. Inventive enough to torture each other without our help."

"Loki." Thor stated, "You have to stop this. You're hurting too many people."

"All for a good cause." Loki challenged, "These subordinate humans cannot survive without being ruled. They thrive the best under direct order. Just like you soldiers."

"We are not soldiers."

"You have a Super Soldier." Loki stated, "And trust you me, you will start to follow his every command. He will become your leader because you know you can't think without him. And you'll be under the control of a petty human, Brother. How does that sound?"

Thor was breathing heavily in his anger and said, "Better than being under yours." And he shook his head in disappointment at Loki before saying gently, "You're starting something that is out of your control."

"Oh." Loki breathed, seeming to look impressed at his brother's depth of understanding, "Says the demigod working on the side that doesn't even understand the Tesseract."

Thoroughly, intellectually, defeated, Thor made one last face at his younger brother before turning on his heel and heading out.

Loki sighed in exasperation before going to his little bench and sitting down calmly. And he waited.

Back in New York, Psyche was still sitting in the computer chair of the grand old basement in the middle of Loki's—or whomever he was—townhouse. She had been going through the entire computer, clicking on anything and everything and just hoping that she didn't blow anything up in the process.

To put it in a list, Psyche had figured out that Loki was the leader of the gang the news was talking about, Clint was being controlled, Loki intends to enslave humanity, and most peculiar of all, Loki was a god. The god of Mischief.

"This is too much." Psyche said out loud, having to speak out loud to handle all the new information. "Too much. This isn't real…"

But it was real. There were real guns sitting behind her, loaded.

She turned to the computer and opened a browser. But there was no internet connection. With a great huff, Psyche got up from where she was sitting and went to grab your discarded coat before she headed to the door. So frustrated with herself, so angry about what she had missed, she completely ignored the fact that she had kept the computers on. She walked through the orange corridors and reached for the handle to pulled the heavy door open and walk home.

Only, the door didn't open. When it had slammed behind her, it had locked. A military based steel door had locked.

Loki, in his cage, glanced at the clock. 10:47pm. Then his ice blue eyes swiveled to his right, to see Nick Fury walking by, giving him an agitated look. Then Loki watched a few more agents walk by, showing a lot of interest in the god. Loki smiled at each and every one of them.

Psyche panicked and looked at her watch: 10:50pm. She sighed and turned around with her back against the door to look down the corridor. The lights were still on, but Psyche still felt trapped. Like she was in an underground tomb. Was there going to be a way out?

11:00pm even. Loki sighed and leaned against the glass, but when Nick walked by and gave him a piercing look, Loki's eyebrows went up and he shrugged before taking himself off the glass. Obviously just leaning on it was enough to infuriate the Fury.

11:13pm, Psyche started walking down the corridor again. There had to be another way out other than the steel door, but she had an idea that there wasn't. When she went to look in every single lab room there was, she saw no way out. She found a little bedroom that was all clean, a fridge full of food, and a bathroom, all fully furnished. But she did not find a way out. Not even a window.

Loki sighed with boredom and leaned his head to the side to crack his neck. Midnight.

Psyche pulled out her phone and dialed Missy's number. It was past Midnight already and she wondered if either of them were looking for her. But when she did, she realized that there was no signal in the underground crypt. It was completely sealed. No internet, stone and steel walls; impenetrable. This must have been a bomb shelter during the 50's. That's the only reason why it would be here. Psyche breathed heavily and paced around the area of the basement, saying things outloud like, "I'm going to die." To "Everything will be fine. Someone will notice I'm missing."

Something shook the Helicarrier. Something like a bomb, and a large commotion had started around the whole ship. Loki glanced around and the frantic agents, running to and fro, completely ignoring whatever Loki was doing. He glanced at the station where the control was that would send him hurtling to earth, and it, too, was unattended.

Psyche started to cry. To panic, in what she deemed to be her eternal tomb. She paced around faster, clawed at the walls, wanted more than anything to see and feel sunlight despite the fact that it was close to 2am by this point. Why hadn't Missy and Wendy sent someone to look for her? They could easily tell the police where the townhouse was, couldn't they? But would they think to go through the alley? Most likely not. Not with the rain washing away all the dust and grime from the doors, making them all look identical. Not only that, the rain would wash away all of her tracks. Psyche also wailed when she realized _that _particular tidbit.

Loki looked up at the agents innocently. They were still running around, but the telltale sign that something was going Loki's way came from beneath him. He heard the roar of the Hulk. Loki glanced at the clock.

"You bastard!" Psyche yelled to no one in particular, though she figured that if her death was caught on tape, Loki could rewatch it and find her true feelings. What true feelings? Did she even like him? Of course not. He was just a beautiful guy that had sashayed into her life for just a few weeks. He had no appeal to him. He wasn't kind, his smile wasn't enduring and gentle to only her, and he wasn't intelligent. "And you're not a god." Psyche seethed as her tear stained eyes looked around the basement, and her chest was heaving up and down. She had taken her wool jacket off and left herself in her purple dress. Her hair, that had been wet from the rain, had dried to its platinum, wavy tresses, but her cheeks were pink and her skin was glazed over with sweat.

Loki glanced at the clock again once Thor had been shot out of the ship in the metal cage. He knew that Thor wasn't going to die. He knew very well that Thor was going to make it out alive and come back to get him. That's why he needed a quick getaway. Until, of course, Phil shot him with that damned giant gun.

Psyche screamed out, but no one could hear her. She knew that. But she tried anyway, the silence and the buzzing of the computers were getting to her. "Loki!" She screamed out. Nothing. "Anyone? Help! Help!" She screamed until her voice became raspy and her crying couldn't be kept quiet.

Psyche reached over to the mythology book, crying, and shook her head. She had fallen for some type of trap. The trap of the perfect man. In her anger, her face bright red, Psyche yelled out again and threw the book across the room. It landed with a bang on the floor and the cover fell off.

Psyche glared down at the book, almost as though it was Loki himself, before she noticed something. Other than the cover, which was now ajar and off the hinge, there was another piece of paper sticking out. She had been so busy looking Loki up in the book, she missed it. Stopping her sobbing for the moment, Psyche went over to the book but didn't pick it up. She picked up the piece of paper instead.

Barton was fighting the Black Widow, but Erik should be at Stark Tower. Loki did a mental checklist in his head as he walked through the Helicarrier with his men. He was safe, Phil was dead, Thor was gone, Hulk had been kicked off, Ironman was torn to shreds, and no one cares about the Captain. Now back to New York. Loki smiled at one of his pilots before getting onto the plane and allowing the doors to close. In that moment, he sighed in relief at his safety and glanced at the clock: 4am. It would be close to 6am by the time he got to New York, so Loki closed his eyes before leaning back on the wall of the plane and waiting.

It was folded elegantly, completely straight and with no other wrinkles despite Psyche's abuse of the book. She opened it and was presented with curvy, almost pristine handwriting that could only be Loki's in black pen. Some of the ink had ran because of the water, but Psyche could read every word:

_Psyche,  
I imagine two ways of which you'll find this note.  
If it is the first, then it's the last door on the right in the back.  
If it is the second, and I suspect it so, then know that this is not a device to entrap you.  
It is to keep you safe._

* * *

Short chapter is short because I have things to do. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing! All feedback, negative and positive, are welcome! xxxx


	7. Forsaken

"Find a corner." Ironman heard Hawkeye say into his ear. A clever idea to say the least, so Tony moved his large, mechanical body to the left and led some of Loki's Chitauri around one of the corners of New York and then he swerved his body to the right. They followed just like Tony knew they would, and one ran straight into the wall, crashing into the brick.

Another swerve, another crashed into the ceiling of a shallow tunnel. "Now." Said Tony, more to J.A.R.V.I.S. than to anyone, "What _is _that tunnel doing there?"

He moved his body again, and again another Chitauri moved to crash. Tony glanced behind him, one more left. Smiling to himself, he moved so that he was flying straight at a row of old townhouses, abandoned by their occupants when Captain America was being made. The soldier behind him was gaining on one of his vehicles and Tony could hear the buzz of his gun as he prepared to shoot Ironman down. So Tony made it so that he flew straight to one of the houses, and he did the classic sharp turn upwards to avoid the building all together. However, the Chitauri flew straight in and crashed.

"Anymore bright ideas?" Tony asked Hawkeye as he flew away, looking down to see if any civilians or Chitauri were getting in the way.

Psyche, underneath, had started hearing the crashes at about 8am in the morning. Shocked and confused, she had hidden herself in the small furnished room to see if she could wait it out. She had made herself a little meal of bananas and grapes while she waited and read and reread Loki's note over and over again. She had stopped crying all together, stopped worrying about Wendy and Missy as well. The only thing she was thinking about, sitting on the bed of the room, chewing absently, was what Loki was up to.

The bangs gave it away.

The Chitauri flying into the basement from the ceiling gave it away too.

Upon seeing that it wasn't a being from earth, Psyche's first response was to be absolutely appalled and confused. This would be the moment of her death, and Loki's attempt to keep her in a safe spot didn't even work. She let out a squeak and ran back into the bedroom to hide under the bed until the monster was gone, but after a moment, of which she was already on her knees, Psyche stopped and listened. The Chitauri wasn't moving.

Ironman had left a large hole that let in the golden sunlight, and Psyche moved out of the room timidly to look up into the bright, somewhat welcoming blue sky. The dust that had been unsettled in the Chitauri's fall fell slowly, gracefully, and it let off a serene glow from the sun, what with a dead alien in the middle of the room. It groaned and the slime from its sharp teeth fizzled in anger; it was dying a very painful death. Its eyes watched her, it wanted to get up and get her. It wanted to kill her, to kill one last human before it's own death, to do one more 'good' service for its leader. If it could kill one more, if it could just reach it's own energy gun and just shoot her, right in the heart. One last kill for the whole lot of them back up in space. But it's translucent, beady eyes shivered, and they rolled back, but his breathing continued weakly.

Psyche swallowed and glanced upwards again. No more were coming. She heard the bangs and yells and screams from the humans, and she saw a few shadows fly overhead, but overall, it was quiet. Comparatively, at least. She even heard a few birds start singing again. She took a few steps into the sunlight, her hair a mess and her clothes had mud stains all over them, but they weren't as bad as the armor on the alien.

"Did you have a family?" Psyche felt the need to ask.

The Chitauri groaned softly from the floor, having no energy to get up and respond like a real soldier.

"I bet they're expecting you back." Psyche whispered, "Back for dinner, maybe? After taking over another world…"

The Chitauri sniffed in his weakness and let out a long, deathly growl.

"It's so ironic." Psyche said to him, "You're so disgusting. But more people will miss you than what would miss me…"

But she got no response this time. Her new friend was dead. So Psyche went over to him and looked at him. He could pop up any moment and attack her, like it was a trick, but he didn't. His chest wasn't moving, and his eyes were staring straight up to the hole in the ceiling. So Psyche slowly reached down and pulled away the energy gun before aiming it at the alien's heart. With a tug of the trigger, it took her a little while to find it, she shot him straight through, for good measure, and in return, the physics shot her back so that she ended up sliding on the floor and hitting the wall. Psyche let out a pained hiss and sat still for a moment, before she got up slowly to look at the gun. It was all black and at the very tip, it shone blue and she could smell the dead human skin that was getting stuck to the front.

Looking up, Psyche decided it was now or never. Putting the gun on a pile of rubble a little above her, she wrapped Loki's scarf around her neck and put the mythology book in her purse before she started to climb, leaving her coat in the bedroom. She would climb a few feet up, then stop to reach down and grab the alien gun, and place it above her head on another ledge. This went on until the gun landed at ground level, and Psyche slowly pulled herself up out of the hole.

The street was mainly empty. The Chitauri hadn't gotten this far yet, the house being just outside the perimeter that Captain America had prescribed. But Psyche knew that it wouldn't last long, so grabbing the gun and her bag, she turned right, and travelled through the city.

She could see more and more aliens coming from the sky, right above Stark Tower. And she figured that where they were, Loki was bound to be as well.

Overall, the stroll terrified her, but it was jaunty to say the least. There were no people running around, no one was trying to sell her something off the street, all the music that the annoying family down the street had ceased. It was calm, just Psyche and New York.

But it didn't last long. There was a low grumbling and it made Psyche fall down. She glanced up above her and watched as a Leviathan flew through the sky, following Ironman. It weaved and curved and Psyche pushed herself against one of the walls, like it would actually stop and attack her. From its sides, a few dozen Chitauri jumped off it, and they landed around the street. Immediately, they pointed to cars and buildings and started to shoot, causing the entire street to ignite on fire in a matter of seconds. Terrified, Psyche pulled the alien gun that she had stolen from her back and pointed it in front of her protectively, her back pressed against the wall.

This action gained the attention of a nearby Chitauri, and immediately it moved to attack her, bearing its slimy, piercing, sharp teeth at her and screaming out. Psyche knew that the only way to kill it would be to kill it with its own weapon, and she pointed the gun straight at its heart and prepared to shoot.

But she couldn't. She looked into his slime green clear eye, as the Chitauri stopped to aim, and she just couldn't. This wasn't his fault.

She closed her eyes and waited for him to shoot instead.

But he didn't. After a few moments of silence and Psyche's heart beating so loud that she was sure the local radio station would pick it up, she opened her eyes again and saw the Chitauri had disregarded her. They had shot their noses up, and though she was, what they thought, human, something about her made it so that she wasn't do to be killed.

She stared at them, all of them, as they nonchalantly turned away from her and went about their destructive business. Confused beyond any type of belief, Psyche lowered the gun and watched them. Was it possible that they heard her speaking to their comrade as he died? And they taken pity upon her in the same they she took upon them? Did they have a metaphysical ability to sense human intentions? It didn't matter at the moment. She needed to get moving before they changed their mind, so Psyche reached up to tighten Loki's scarf, and she walked on.

Psyche noticed that wherever she went in the city, the Chitauri ignored her in the same way that the first few did. They just walked on, carried on, killed on, without looking at her. So when Psyche got closer and closer to Stark Tower, walking through the alleyways in a stressed jog, the peculiar feeling that she had in her gut didn't leave her. If anything, it made her run faster.

She saw almost all the Avengers in her journey. Captain America ran past her, Thor was on one of the large aliens, Ironman flew above her, but she ignored them. She knew where she needed to go and whom she needed to speak to. And in turn, since none of them had known about her, they ignored her just as well.

And though Psyche had become used to seeing Stark Tower in her New York, it looked all the more intimidating when she walked out of the alleyway and looked up at it. With a portal going into outer space and an army of aliens coming out from the sky, it didn't help her stomach plummeting. Looking around her, Psyche waited until the coast was clear before she walked up to Stark Towers.

Now how was she going to get in?

Psyche looked around herself, at the war that was ensuing. Her hair was even more ruffled but she was unscarred. For the moment. More people flew around her, more Chitauri ignored her, and the only thing that stood between her and her goal was Stark Tower. Most notably, J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony Stark's computer and alarm system. But sighing loudly, Psyche said more to the building than to herself or anyone around her, "Well. We are at war. Sorry about this…"

She took a few steps back and pointed the energy gun straight at the window in front of her. With a swift squeeze of the trigger, it blasted through the window and broke right through. Psyche smiled, for a moment, before she realized that a shower of glass shards were flying right to her. Ducking down, only her side got a few cuts, but they still hurt. Biting her lip, Psyche looked around herself to see if anyone had noticed. And no, no one had. Even in the middle of a war, with her breaking in to Tony Stark's house, she was ignored.

Sulking slightly, she stepped forward and took a few timid steps into the room that she had blasted in to. The power was out on the bottom floor, so the only thing that she could rely on for light was the sun that was ironically gently beaming through the windows. Psyche went over to the corner of the room and gently laid the gun down on the floor, before she went to find a staircase. Now Tony Stark designed this building, and he was a smart man, and thus he had an emergency staircase that was used only when needed, but the elevator was his preferred way of travel. Psyche had to open at least ten doors in the mist of the noise and clatter before she found one that would take up upstairs. And then she began to climb.

Loki, meanwhile, was waiting at the top of Stark Tower. Second guessing himself would be futile. He had already told Thor that there was no turning back, and even though Loki couldn't help but scold himself over and over again at how he only stabbed Thor in the side and not his heart, he knew that killing Thor off would only set everyone off worse. It was better to be 'gently' reprimanded by Thanos than to be killed by the Avengers.

He went over to the window that wasn't there any longer, since he threw Ironman out of it. He watched as his army surged on, and for a while, the Avengers were fighting them instead of worrying over Loki. He could finally get a bit of a breather in before tonight, when it would all be over, and he would be able to rule over earth. He glanced at just outside of Captain America's perimeter and wondered what Psyche was thinking of the entire ruckus while she was below the city.

"Loki…?"

Or behind him. Whichever.

Loki turned around and looked her over. She was covered in dirt, and there was a sheen of sweat all over her brow, and a few cuts on her cheek from the window. The dress she was wearing, a long sleeved dress for the coldness of the morning and night, was clinging to her small frame, and her shoes were gone. She had his scarf around her neck, but her hair was completely tussled and the golden curls were knots, falling down her back.

"You're supposed to be in the hideout." Loki almost snapped, before leaving his post in front of the window, thus ignoring the entire war, and walking over to her.

Psyche was breathing heavy. She had run up the entire flight of stairs as fast as she could, and she wasn't a demigod. It took a lot out of her. But she shook her head between breaths and said, "You knew I'd try to get out. You knew it all along."

Loki sized her up, but said, "Yes. I suppose."

"Why?" Psyche asked. "Why would you protect me?"

Loki shook his head at her, disappointed, "I thought you knew human behavior."

"Yes, but not demigod behavior!" Psyche yelled, and it was the first time Loki had ever heard her be so angry. He raised his eyebrows at her in surprise but didn't move towards her. She continued, "Loki! You're trying to take over the world! How could you?"

Loki made a sound that was between a hiss and a growl before he turned around to look out the window briefly before turning back to her, "It's complicated."

Psyche looked him up and down. She took in his golden armor, his helmet, the scowl that he had that he had never shown to her, the pure power-hungry malice that were in his eyes. He was hard, he had been hit hard, right in the gut, by something in his past.

Psyche whispered to him, "What are you trying to prove?"

"I'm here." Loki started, a little more tense than he had hoped for the day, "To achieve something glorious. I have a great, humanitarian plan, and I wanted you by my side."

"Not that." Psyche said, and she shook her head at him in her heavy breathing, "Not this. I don't mean this. I mean what are you trying to prove in your heart?"

"Do not-" Loki snapped, before pointing his finger at her in warning, "Do not think that you can psychoanalyze me. I am not a guina pig, or a dog, or a young child, or even that man from 1984. I'm not human, Psyche, don't you understand that? I'm more advanced, I'm a king! You can't just ruffle up my humanity."

"Then what will you do?" She asked, her voice coming up to a high shrill, "When instead of being betrayed by everyone you love, you're forsaken?"

"I expect not to feel it." Loki said stonily.

"Well I hope you feel it now." Psyche said, and Loki watched in horror as she walked up to him, her face red and tears falling down her face dramatically. She stood before him, more bold than he had ever seen her, and she ripped off the scarf from her neck. She made a face of anger at him and balled it up before throwing it at him. It hit him in the chest, but Loki didn't move. He only watched her with sharp eyes as she turned from him and started to walk away, intending to abandon him. Only this time, unlike his family that hadn't meant to cause him pain, she was fully intending to make him feel as much pain as possible. And she was very good at it. If Loki wasn't the very one she was inflicting pain upon, he'd applaud her.

Loki watched as she glanced back him once more before shaking her head and running down the stairs. Then Loki looked down at his scarf, held out his hand, and it floated up to its master. Loki let his fingers run through the soft fabric quietly, thinking, when suddenly something clicked. Loki then ran to the door and yelled down, "Psyche! Come back—take the scarf-!"

But it was too late. Not because Psyche was already gone, but because the Hulk had just entered the Tower.

* * *

So it's official. This story has gotten the most reviews and the most alerts of all my stories. That means a lot, but makes me extremely nervous on how this story is going. And we're not even close to being done, here, either. So thanks SO much for reading, it helps; the good and bad reviews. Know that I do not disregard advice and critique, so long as it's constructive. Thanks again for reading! xxxxxxx


	8. Space Hitchhiking

"Don't look at me like that." Loki said dully to his brother from his cell. Thor was standing in front of the door, giving his brother a particularly stern look.

"I'm simply disappointed."

"You're not the only one." Loki sulked.

Thor shifted his footing awkwardly but said definitively, "I'm taking you home this afternoon, Brother, so don't get too comfortable."

Loki glanced up from where he was watching a spider slowly make a new home, and said, "That is, by all measures, the most uncomfortable thought I've thought all day."

But instead of answering with something equally witty, Thor shook his head at his youth before he watched Steve walk up from down the hallway. Loki, and the rest of them, for the night, had shacked up in Stark Tower. Loki had been put in a cell made personally by Tony, of which if Loki made any sudden movements, the entire cage would become electrically charged, and J.A.R.V.I.S. would immediately alert Tony, who was more than happy to send Bruce down to take care of business.

Steve was wearing his black suit, as was Thor, and they stood next to each other, looking at Loki for a moment before Steve said, "Come on. Nick wants us to hurry."

Thor nodded before he glanced at Loki for another moment, and walked away with Steve. Loki sent off a dirty look, but he couldn't squint too hard. The bruise on his temple prevented that. And of course, the cuts on his face that weren't healing. Loki reached up and tried to wipe some of the blood of the bridge of his nose as he glanced at the J.A.R.V.I.S. cam out of the corner of his eye, but a fresh trickle of blood still wondered down from his forehead.

"I want to thank everyone for attending on this…this deafening quiet autumn morning." Nick Fury's voice hurled itself out over the crowd, all of which were shrouded in black. His one good eye scanned the audience of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, close friends, some family, and of course, his own motley crew of superheroes. He briefly made eye contact with them; they stared back gravely.

"Today, we stop our meaningless, mundane struggling to mourn and remember. Today, we stop to feel the pain we have become numbed against; we stop to remember a national loss, the fall of one of our most dedicated and loyal heroes of our time.

70 years ago, one of our greatest soldiers was lost at sea, and when he was thought dead, his sacrifice and endurance during one of the Greatest World wars carried on, and his entity became the inspiration of one of the greatest men I've ever known. But unlike that man, our own fallen hero will not meet with such eternal luxury.

He was aware of all the dangers, more aware than any of us. He was calculated, sure of himself, and when met with a challenge of any kind, no matter how ungodly or godly, he faced it with the courage of a million men.

He had a special type of mentality that made him a hero. But he wasn't what we think of as heroic. He didn't wear American colors, he couldn't aim, he hated to kill, he didn't have superhuman strength, he wasn't a genius, and he most certainly wasn't a god. But he never ceased to surprise me with his conviction; I doubt he never stopped surprising any of you either.

In my career, I have grown used to seeing the uncanny, the unfamiliar; the inhuman. It's hard to impress me, as I'm sure it's not certainly hard to impress you. But we're just beginning, we're just starting, and we wouldn't be, if it weren't for him.

So, we'll carry on with this thing we're doing, we'll keep at it until we get this right. We're work harder, we'll become stronger, we'll save the Earth over and over and over again, and we'll do it because of him. The avenged.

Agent Phillip Coulson honored us with his heroic loyalty and we won't forget him." Nick said calmly as he started to fold up the speech he had written slowly, and in one last moment he leaned down the microphone and added, "Or how he blasted that shithead's ass across the floor in his last, glorious moment. Thank you."

Nick gave his Avengers a look, before he got off the stage wearing his normal black clothing and walking over to where some of his other Agents were standing. During the whole speech, all of the team found themselves looking to the open coffin sitting a little away from them. Phil looked as stern as ever, just a little dryer than they were used to. There would be a large hole in his chest, but other than that, he was mostly unscarred. Steve had signed his name on each bloody vintage Captain America card and they were tucked in the front pocket of Phil's suit. There was a silence across the funeral, as Phil's coffin, with the American flag adorning it, was lowered into the ground.

In the end, the only group remaining was the Avengers and Nick. They stood around the gravesite in silence, watching as the wind gently pushed the leaves onto the freshly tussled dirt, intending to cover it up so soon.

Tony was the first to speak, "…I noticed some interesting security footage from J.A.R.V.I.S. this morning."

"I would think the whole thing was interesting." Nick said, "Since the last time I saw Loki, he was an imprint in your floor."

"That was my favorite part." Tony said, glancing over to Bruce with amusement before looking at Thor, "You didn't tell me your little brother has a girl."

Thor perked up and looked over to his comrade, "She came to your tower?"

"Oh." Tony said, balancing on the balls of his feet as he looked down at Phil's grave, his hands stuffed into his pockets, "She sure did. She came, she destroyed, and then she left. I'm pretty sure Bruce's little pancake flop hurt less than what she did."

Thor made a sound with his throat and shook his head, looking at anything but Tony. But it was Steve that said, "Why didn't you tell us about her?"

"I didn't find it important." Thor said, "He was using her."

Tony made an amused face and said, "Didn't look like that to me."

"Do you suggest he had actual feelings for a human?" Bruce asked, "A real human girl?"

Tony held up his arms to his comrades and said innocently, "I'm just passing it on. J.A.R.V.I.S. is the real gossip bug. All he does is yap-yap-yap, I have no idea how he finds out half the stuff he does."

Steve gave him an incriminating look, "You made J.A.R.V.I.S…"

"Sarcasm, Steve." Bruce said before he glanced at Thor, "I suppose with everything going on the Helicarrier, you didn't have time to tell us."

"Not exactly." Thor agreed.

"Well." Tony said smugly, reaching into his inside chest pocket and pulling out a device about the size of a book and holding it out. "I have it here, anyway."

Thor made a face but leaned over to watch it. Bruce, Steve, Natasha and Clint did as well. They watched in silence as Psyche ran through the flights of stairs, into the room of which Loki was standing, and confronted him. There was an exchange, of which they heard the entire dialog thanks to J.A.R.V.I.S.' microphones, and they watched as Psyche threw Loki's scarf at him. But what they watched with the most interest was the look of worry and betrayal on Loki's face.

"He's only made that face once." Thor stated, "Right before he fell into the abyss."

"I remember her." Clint said, "I mean. I remember some parts of her. Loki spent almost everyday at her library."

"Library?" Natasha said, "You mean Loki actually sat in a library, surrounded by humans? And didn't kill any of them?"

Thor grunted and made a face again, confused, "What power does she have over him?"

Tony took the tablet away and reached into his pocket once again, screwing up his mouth and pulling out his phone. J.A.R.V.I.S. was running on the interface, and there was a cellphone number that had a CALL or CANCEL just under the number. He held it out to Thor and said, "Maybe you should find out."

"Hello?"

"Is this Psyche Velle?"

"…Yes…Who's this?"

"This is Thor Odinson of Asgard, brother of Loki."

"I—I…What?"

"Is there static? Did you hear me? I've never used one of these—"

"No. No. I hear you just fine. I'm just…Surprised…"

"You are the human woman who has enchanted my brother, yes?"

"…Enchanted…?"

"You are the human woman, yes?"

"Yes. I suppose. Unless I'm not the only one…Why are you calling?"

"I have contacted you on behalf of Loki. I am calling you to inform you of our  
departure."

"Why should I care about his departure?"

"…I—Well, I just thought you should know. In case you wanted to say goodbye."

"Loki…He won't be coming to Earth again?"

"Not if I can help it."

Psyche had hung up with Thor wishing her well and telling her that they would be leaving Earth promptly at 3pm in the middle of Central Park, the best wide open space that they could find to travel between worlds. Psyche had said that she wouldn't be showing.

She wasn't going to be showing because Thor had called her while she was standing in the middle of the rubble of what used to be her townhouse. Captain America's perimeter had been breached just like it had been when the Chitauri had fallen through Loki's hideout. It looked like a warzone, with books and clothes strewn everywhere. And worse of all, she hadn't heard from Missy and Wendy, though she had tried calling them.

The day before, New York was a ball of fire and aliens. Currently, it was a depleted ashtray. And when the aliens had fallen to their deaths, Psyche was still in Stark Tower, hiding because there had been a large banging from the top floor that made her stop and run for cover. She had spent the night walking back to her razed home, and sitting down in the middle of the floor and waiting until the sun rose over the tired city. She found it interesting, how just 24 hours prior, no one even believed in aliens in New York.

Psyche stayed sitting on her pile of a house for a few more hours, looking at the building frame that used to be her room. Where her kitchen used to be. Even where the little closet under the stairs was still slightly standing. For hours, she didn't move, only listened to some of the large moving trucks travel through the city and cleaning up.

So when 2:30 started to blink on the oven that was surprisingly still working, and Psyche had reached into her bag, she realized that she hadn't given Loki the mythology book like she intended. She opened it to Loki's page slowly and looked it over, but when she looked up suddenly to watch a fire truck fly by, and she glanced down at the pages again, she realized that the book itself was opening to another page. Thor's page. Which had been read almost as much, if not more than, Loki's page had, for it too had a crease all along the page.

It was 2:50 when Psyche decided to shove the book back into her bag and she bolted down the street, heading to Central Park.

She was late, really late. She should have started heading down to the park half an hour ago. And thanks to her inability to decide, she had made it so that she had to run through the city. Wearing the same dress she had worn the day before, and none of her cuts had been attended to; and barefoot.

Thor watched as Bruce went over o the Tesseract with a pair of large tongs and carried it over to the device that would be used so that Thor and Loki could be sent back to Asgard. Loki had to admit, to himself since he had a muzzle over his mouth, that the rapport that had been formed by the team members of the Avengers was impressive. And once again, he was kicked out of the circle; though this time, he did it himself.

Loki watched as Natasha whispered something to Clint's ear, and Clint smiled over at Loki. Human behavior lesson: a smile to an enemy is mockery. Loki sighed and looked back at his brother.

"I called Psyche today." Thor stated. This caused Loki to perk up dangerously. Thor continued, "I told her we'd be leaving at three. I invited her along, just in case she wanted to bid you farewell. But she's decided against it." Loki narrowed his eyes at his older brother.

"So." Thor finished, handing over the device for Loki to take, "You shall leave Earth. Forever."

Loki's ice glare didn't leave Thor's face as he reached over to take one of the handles of the device. Thor took the other side and nodded to his friends. While he was being punished in Asgard, Psyche would be here on earth, finishing her psychology degree and going on to reach her full potential. She had it in her, too. To be able to subdue a demigod alone, at least, that was impressive in Loki's eyes. But she was safe now. Loki had lost, he was angry with himself and Thor for losing, he'd be facing torture and pain and isolation for the rest of his days, but Psyche was safe. Safe at her little townhouse, sitting in front of the television while Wendy smoked a blunt, no doubt. Her being in her own home, safe, was Loki's last thought as Thor turned the handle on the device.

"Loki!"

Or behind him. Whichever.

There was a flash of blue and the other members of the Avengers backed away slowly as their teammate and his unruly little brother was sucked through time and space, back to Asgard.

Tony was the first one to speak, "Did I just see a ball of golden fluff run into a multi-universal transcendental portal to Asgard?"

Bruce walked around in a circle and looked around the area, before he said, "I think…you did."

"That was the girl." Steve said, "Loki's girl."

"Well damn." Tony said, "Space hitchhiking."

"What should we do?" Natasha asked.

"What can we do?" Bruce said, "She's with the gods now."

Tony nodded, his face stern as he looked at the space in the middle of the concrete, and then he snapped his fingers in his complicated fashion before looking at his teammates and saying defiantly, "Well. I'm hungry and I don't care. Coming Brucie?"

* * *

Big update, big twist, blah blah blah. Now, this is the part of which I will be going on my own plot tangent. I COULD wait until Thor 2 came out, and thus be more accurate in regards to sticking with the plot, but I don't think you guys would like that very much, and Thor 2 starts filming in October and I don't intend to still be writing this story then. From here on out, any references I make to an established Marvel "plot" will be from the comics, if anything. Otherwise, they will be my own. Thanks again for reading, I look forward to sharing Phase 2 of this journey with you guys. (harhar. See what I did there?)


	9. Pretending

Loki watched as the galaxies of Asgard and Earth intertwined around him, causing him to have the same slight motion sickness that he had when he first came to Earth. He fluffed out an annoyed breath at Thor in front of him, but Thor wasn't watching Loki like the youth had expected. Thor's eyes were wide with astonishment and concern. It was only until they passed what used to be Jotunheim that Loki felt a very tight grip on the flesh between his elbow and his shoulder.

He had thought that he and Thor had left Earth too quickly for Psyche to catch up to them, but they hadn't. Psyche had caught them just in time, and furthermore, by grabbing Loki's arm, she had hitched a ride with the two of them back to Asgard. During the journey, Loki glanced from Thor down to where Psyche was clutching him, but her eyes were clenched closed and her whole body was tense, and she was pressing her body against him fearfully. Not a space traveller, obviously.

They couldn't speak because of the velocity that the Tesseract was putting them in. The power alone was enough to make any noise that could escape Loki's throat get stuck; he could only imagine what Psyche was feeling.

They arrived in the middle of one of the large rooms that were provided by the palace of Asgard for the safety of the royal family. This was where Odin and his people met and discussed intense issues, and it was a given that Thor would have it so that the two of them—three of them—would land in this room instead of in the middle of Asgard itself.

The physics of the Tesseract made it so that when they finally landed on their native homeland, Thor and Loki both were pushed away from the Tesseract device, making it land on the floor. But Loki wasn't concerned about the Tesseract; Psyche concerned him. He turned around quickly, but it was too late. Psyche's small body could be seen flying off to his left, and she hit the wall. Loki cursed loudly, but it came out as a muffled grunt because of his muzzle and his neck flexed in anger. He couldn't move, not since two Asgardian soldiers surrounded him and took hold of his shoulders, preventing him from going over to the mortal.

Loki breathed in a devilish breath before turning his eyes to Thor; they were turning red.

Thor was looking down at his hand, which had been burned by the energy of the Tesseract. So had Loki's, but Loki wasn't paying attention to his own hand. When Thor looked up and made eye contact with Loki, he said quickly to a few standby soldiers, "Take her to the healing room. Now."

Loki turned to watch the soldiers go tend to Psyche. One picked her up bridal style, and Loki flinched angrily as he watched Psyche's head lull backwards, her throat being exposed to everyone and her pout lips parted in her breathing. Her dress had been torn in the two days she was wearing it. The fabric that would have been on her shoulder was now gone, leaving a hole that exposed what Loki saw as a bruise. The cuts that she had gotten while shooting into Tony's tower window hadn't been attended to; they were irritated and were turning blue. And her hair, though as bright as ever, was one big knot with little strands of hair that were falling down, showing the real length of her hair. He only wondered how dull her brown eyes would be. In an instant, she was carried away.

Loki's eyes scanned the room as he stood silently, watching the other occupants. His "father and mother" were standing there, watching him wearily. Odin's face, oh Odin, looked so stern and creased and Loki felt a slight bud of pride in knowing that it was his actions that made Odin worry so much.

"Loki." Odin started. He looked as disappointed at Thor did when Thor first found Loki on the plane with Captain America and Ironman. The only difference being that Odin was a larger entity of godliness, and thus had a shorter temper.

"Who was the young woman?" Frigga asked, "The one the soldiers took away?"

"That is Loki's—" But Thor stopped when he made eye contact with his little brother. Thor made a face of confusion and stared at Loki, who was in turn communicating something with his eyes that Thor had never seen him do. The emotions that were stewing under his eyes almost alarmed Thor as much as an alien army, and he said, "That is Loki's responsibility to tell you."

Odin looked around and said to one of his soldiers, "Go get Heimdall."

In a moment, the gatekeeper walked into the room and looked to Odin. Odin wasted no time, "The young woman that Loki has brought with him. Is anyone searching for her? Should we get her back to Earth urgently?"

"There is no human, nor creature of all existence, that seeks the young woman." Heimdall replied.

Frigga made a face and said, "Certainly her parents are mourning the loss of their daughter."

"She has no parents." Heimdall stated, "At least, no parents that claim her. The only being that seeks the safety of this young woman is Prince Loki."

Frigga and Odin glanced at Loki, who still hadn't spoken, because of the muzzle. Loki glanced at his adoptive parents and then back to Thor once again.

"So we don't kill her?" Odin asked out loud. He watched as Loki narrowed his eyes at his father. Odin made a deep-throated grunt in his throat and said, "It doesn't feel appealing when someone threatens the things you love, does it, Son?"

Loki made a hiss under his muzzle and breathed in to try to control his anger. Odin looked to Thor, and Thor said to Loki, "We'll put you in prison for now. Until we know what to do with you."

Loki didn't break eye contact with Thor as the two soldiers behind him pushed him forward, and then they led him through the corridors of the palace of Asgard, down a few flights of stairs, Loki knew exactly where they were taking him, to a darker spot than where the artifacts were, to a colder, more desolate spot that had often plagued his interest when he was younger. Often when Asgardian prisoners were placed in these cells, they never saw the Asgardian sun again. The soldiers, rougher than Loki had expected, shoved him into the cell and closed the door. It was magic, it had to be to hold Loki, and the bars went from their dull black color to a shining silver, and a wave of protective magic covered the walls.

Night fell over Asgard. Loki couldn't see it, but he knew from how the soldiers were changing shifts to guard him and the cell. Above him, far above him, Psyche was laying in one of the elaborate bedchambers; Frigga was watching over her.

The bed had been set up for their guest, but the main concern was to keep her safe and make sure she'd wake up. She would, she had bumped her head against the wall and thus blacked out, but she'd come to and Frigga had offered to be there when she did. The cuts along her face and her clothes had been tended to, leaving her laying there in a long white nightgown, her face with little pink scars on them that should disappear before the night was over. Her long hair had been left alone, however, since Frigga decided it would be something she could do herself when she woke.

Frigga was sitting in the chair next to the bed, watching the moons float up into the sky like they did every night. She had, in the interest of Psyche, left her bag unattended, but it sat beside the bed as her only personal item.

Psyche was sure she was having the weirdest dream possible. All she could see were stars and travelling between worlds and spinning, a lot of spinning. REM sleep did that to you, have you involuntary images during sleep, but when Psyche slowly went from REM sleep to consciousness, the images that she was seeing were not leaving her. Not in the way most of the images during dreams did. They stuck with her in her short-term memory; they were real.

Frigga just about jumped when Psyche's eyes snapped open. Psyche laid there, staring above her at the gold encrusted ceiling, with little paintings of what looked to Psyche as battle scenes. Psyche then said out-loud, to anyone who might be listening, "Can someone tell me why my condition is bad enough to have to be given an hallucinogen drug?"

"We have given you no such drug." Frigga said gently, "We have simply healed you of your wounds and let you rest."

Psyche blinked up at the ceiling, but she wasn't sure if her body was strong enough to get up and walk about, so laying there, she asked in a whisper, "Where am I?"

"You are in Asgard." Frigga said, "I am Frigga, wife of Odin Allfather, mother of Thor and Loki, Queen of Asgard. Who, may I ask, might you be?"

Psyche didn't reply right away. She only stared above her silently before saying, "I'm Psyche Velle."

"Psyche." Frigga replied softly, "What a pretty name."

Psyche turned her head when she realized she wasn't attached to tubes and little hospital trinkets and looked at Frigga. The golden queen smiled at her quest, but Psyche said, "What are you going to do with Loki?"

Frigga's face fell slightly, but she said, "We're not sure. We wait until Odin comes to a decision."

"To kill him?"

"If need be." Frigga whispered.

"How does that make you feel?" Psyche asked, laying there with her mass of curls surrounding her head, "Having one of your sons killed by your country."

"He committed a crime." Frigga stated sternly, "But it does hurt. Knowing that this is how I raised him."

"Has he said anything?"

"He has a muzzle over his mouth." Frigga said, "We thought it prudent to withhold speech from him until you woke."

"But he's safe?"

But Frigga didn't get to reply. Odin had walked into the room and looked down at the young mortal. Psyche, in her bed, was still lying down, but she made eye contact with his one eye. Odin leaned over and said, "How is this mortal feeling?"

"Fine." Psyche stated.

"You hit your head." Odin explained, "Much like my eldest son did when he first went to Earth. Will this be a trend for travelling between worlds? A toll, to enter, by chance?"

"Maybe." Psyche replied, "It prepares you a little bit, I suppose."

"Do you have strength to sit? So that I can address you properly."

Frigga ran to Psyche's other side and placed a hand behind the younger girl's back as Psyche moved to sit up. Not too many things hurt, just her back and a little bit of her arms, but overall she would have to say that her first space adventure had been a safe success.

Odin sat down in front of the bed and looked at Psyche, "You are the young woman whom Loki has affiliated himself to."

"Yes?" Psyche stated, "Unless he has more."

"No more." Odin stated, "You are his only, true, confidant."

Psyche nodded in her white nightgown and she reached up to run her fingers through her hair; only for them to get stuck. She gave an apologetic look to Frigga and said, "Can I have my purse?"

Frigga smiled and handed the young woman her bag, and Psyche pulled out her brush and started to tend to her hair.

"You know about Loki, then." Odin stated, "About him being adopted."

"Yes." Psyche stated.

"Then you know that he's not a happy son. You know that this little stunt that he did was a way to find vengeance against me, against Thor, and against Asgard, and that we have no intention to rage war against your world. The Chitauri, the aliens that Loki controlled, were from a corner of space that we do not work with. You know all this?"

Psyche nodded, having forgotten to brush her hair during Odin's long speech.

"And you know." Odin continued, "That Loki's crimes will be tended to, and Loki will be punished."

Psyche swallowed and said, "You've decided how to?"

"I have not." Odin said, "It will take a lot of talking with not only Thor, but Loki himself. I come here to ask if you know of anything about Loki that I should know. Anything…I should take in to consideration."

"Not really." Psyche replied. But she did. She knew exactly what had caused Loki to be who he is. But to tell Odin, the god, the King of Asgard, that all of Loki's personality stemmed from his parenting techniques was something she couldn't do. Not until she saw Loki for herself. "Where is he?"

"In a cell at the bottom of the castle." Odin replied, "Alone."

"Can I see him?"

Odin glanced at Frigga, but Psyche didn't. Frigga must have nodded because Odin looked at Psyche and said, "I'll have two soldiers escort you down."

The journey from one of the towers of the castle to the basement was a long one, but Psyche, wearing her nightgown and a pair of sandals to protect her feet, found it fascinating. She asked the guards which was which. Who was that the statue of? Who was in that picture? Was that pure gold, real pure gold? How long had that been there? Had the corridors always been this way? Was the country of Asgard equally as lavish? How many guards patrolled the halls during the night? How old was the palace? How old was Asgard? How old was Odin? And the guard, true to the Asgardian disposition, answered each question politely.

But the basement was a different vibe altogether. But before going in, Psyche stopped and said to the guards, "I know this might sound crazy, but is it possible that you leave me alone with Loki?"

"Alone…All alone?" The guard asked, "By yourself?"

"Yes. I don't think he'll say anything with an audience."

The guards glanced at each other and then said, "We've been instructed by Odin to do as you say…so to question you would be unwise. But to do as you command, we suspect this to be equally unwise…"

"If you're afraid of Loki getting free, lock me in the cell with him." Psyche offered, "And come back for me in an hour."

The guards stared at her in astonishment, before one of them said, "You intend to die tonight, mistress?"

"Loki has saved my life multiple times. More times than I'm aware, I bet. I don't think he's going to kill me."

"You are strange." The guard continued, "A strange creature with a strange hold over the Prince."

Psyche's tense smile gave her away, "I've always been a little strange."

But in the end, the guards agreed, and when Loki looked up to see what was rustling in the basement, he came face to face with Psyche, on the other side of the bars of his cell. Loki didn't move to get up like a gentleman, though. Mainly because his body was in too much pain to really move suddenly. But his eyes widened when the guard opened the cell, let Psyche in, and closed it. Psyche turned and nodded to them, and all four guards, the two that were personally guarding Loki and the two that had escorted Psyche, left.

Loki looked her over. She looked well. As small and fragile as ever, especially in Asgard, she looked like a paper crane more than a human being. Her hair had been brushed out and it looked almost exactly like the soft fabric of her nightgown, only with little flecks of gold all along the strands. Her face still had a few bruises and cuts on it, and she looked skinnier because of her travels. But when his eyes followed up her body to her own eyes, they were hard, steel hard, and Loki leaned his back on the back of the cell and watched her.

"Hello." Psyche said awkwardly. Always awkward, Loki thought. She stood before him, a few feet away right next to the door.

Loki didn't reply.

"Sorry." Psyche apologized before she walked over to him. Loki flinched away suspiciously at first, but stopped when he realized that she was reached over to take off his muzzle. His hands were still tied in chains, so he couldn't even do anything in reply. Only wait as her warm fingers brushed against his cheek and find the clasp that kept it on. Once she did, she pulled it off, and Loki immediately flexed his jaw and craned his neck. Psyche took a seat on the chair that was provided for visitors, while Loki sat on the concrete bench used for a bed.

"You're late." Loki said, his voice dry and hoarse from not speaking for more than a day. His wounds, unlike Psyche's, hadn't been tended to, so it still hurt to speak too much for him.

Despite the fact that Loki almost enslaved her earth, and her race, and was the sole reason why she was in Asgard, and the fact that he was sitting across from her, his hands chained and his face covered in wounds, as an inter-dimensional war criminal, she smiled and said, "I didn't know I was supposed to be here as a certain time. Did we decide on one?"

"No." Loki said, with a smirk of amusement at their own harmony.

"Then how can I be late?"

"You just are." Loki replied, and after a moment of silence between them, he shook his head in a tired fashion and leaned in against the wall.

"Does it hurt?"

"Certainly."

"I meant the wounds."

"Not very much, no. I've felt worse." Loki's eyes went from the ceiling to the woman across from him, "I expected you dead. After you threw my scarf at me."

Psyche gave him a look, "Why would I be dead? The aliens ignored me."

"The aliens recognized my scent, and didn't attack you. But without that scarf you were unprotected."

"Oh…" Psyche whispered, "So it wasn't because I spoke to one of them?"

"You spoke to them?" Loki asked, shocked, for he whipped his head forward and caused pain to run down his neck, "You actually talked to one of those lowlife creatures? Are you insane?"

Psyche shrugged, "He was already dying and I just…I don't know. Asked him about his life."

"They're killing machines, Psyche, they would have killed you no matter how many you spoke to. That's why I used them. Don't you know that words do not save lives?"

"My entire degree believes that words save lives!" Psyche yelped.

"Not when faced with Asgardians, Chitarui or the Hulk." Loki snapped.

Psyche, recognizing defeat, sighed and got up to sit next to Loki. Loki didn't move, and he felt Psyche sit close enough to have her small body brush against him. She said after a few moments, "So are you proud of yourself?"

"You know very well that I am not."

"You should tell me about it." Psyche offered, "I've asked the guards to give us privacy. Confidentiality and everything."

"Heimdall, I expect, is at my father's side. There is no confidentiality."

Psyche nodded, though she had no idea who Heimdall was. "That's an excuse not to speak to me."

"That's a fact, that prevents me from speaking to you."

"Same thing."

"It isn't. Why are you so argumentive all of a sudden?" Loki snapped.

Psyche paused and it caused Loki to have to look down to her. She stared before herself and said weakly, "I'm very angry with you."

Loki looked at how her face was so set, and he said, "What did I do to anger you so?"

"You lied to me."

"And attempted to rule your race was just a personality quirk." Loki clarified.

"Odin said you'll pay for that when he decides your punishment." Psyche said, "But what you did to me was personal. They're separate things."

"Intertwined. Unless, of course, you didn't mind being ruled."

"Loki." Psyche said, and she had to look up at him. For the first time since they had hugged, Loki realized their close proximity, she said, "You're intelligent. You know what I'm talking about. Stop pretending."

"I'm the god of mischief." Loki said, "All I do is pretend. I've been pretending all my life. My life is one, big, pretend."

Psyche stared at him, those eyes bearing into him like they always did. More piercing than Odin's one eye, Loki concluded silently. But Psyche drew his attention back to her by saying, "So, when you protected me, it was pretend?"

Loki gave her a stern look, his eyes becoming sharp, "All you human women are the same, you know. The world, any world, all worlds, could be in the middle of a raging war, and you find the most intricate detail between two people and cling to _that._"

"You didn't answer my question."

Loki shook his head, annoyed, and wondered what his father was thinking with Heimdall giving him updates on the conversation between he and Psyche. If he admitted to anything, he would be compromised. He said softly, "Maybe you should stop pretending as well, Psyche."

Psyche nodded silently and she leaned her head on his shoulder casually, which in turn caused Loki to sit perfectly still, so as not to disturb her. They sat like this for a few moments, Loki looking forward and watching the magic that was within the walls shine and dull softly, and he had reached up to rub the sore skin under his chains, while Psyche stared before herself as well. He wasn't uncomfortable, but he was surprised that she wasn't either.

"It's not your fault." Psyche said after a few minutes of silence, "Who you are. What you're feeling, I mean."

"I'll be punished for it, won't I?"

"It's Odin's fault."

Loki looked around himself, mainly so that Heimdall knew very well what she said, before he looked down at her. She was looking at him already. He said, "How?"

"By hiding your true identity from you, he took your identity from you as well. And by repressing your curiosity and your true self, he made it so that you would eventually lash out against him."

"Well that's a very eloquent way to put it." Loki agreed.

"But you've overreacted."

"This is less eloquent."

"If you felt like you didn't have identity, why couldn't you just rebel like a normal child? Do drugs, have a lot of children, change genders. Why did you have to try to prove you were a leader?"

"My father." Loki said, but corrected himself, "Thor's father, stated that he and I were born to be kings. But what he meant was that Thor would be king of Asgard, the home I had grown used to and grown to love, and I would be King of Jotunheim, the enemy land of Asgard. I was one of his tools."

"Like how I was one of yours?"

"I—!" Loki said suddenly, before he pushed himself off the wall and glared down at Psyche, who had moved her head fast enough to prevent herself from being hit in the face by Loki's armor. He turned to her, so that they could look at each other face to face, his hands pinned down to his knees but he could still shove his face right at Psyche, causing her to be in his direct line of vision, "I protected you because-! Because of my personal choice. It was my personal choice to protect you, to keep you safe. You were never my pawn! You misunderstand my intentions!"

"Like you misunderstood your father's." Finished Psyche, looking him square in the eye. Oh, thought Loki, she was clever.

Loki felt a lump in his throat as she said it, and he was breathing heavily. Not only because of the emotions Psyche alone invoked in him, but also because she had gotten him to say exactly what she wanted; she had outwitted him. The god of mischief. They were still staring at each other when Psyche said, "Do you know what I did when I turned 18?"

"I could only guess." Loki stated as he glanced between her eyes.

"I had a falling out with my adoptive mother." Psyche explained, "She only adopted me to look good to her bridge club. You know, if you adopt a child out of the goodness of your heart, you look more…more kind. Two weeks after she adopted me, she became the president of the church circle club, and everyone in my old town thinks she's the most charitable woman. But she actually was a witch, she never spent time with me. I felt like I was just a tool to make her look good. I haven't spoken to her in seven years."

"That explains why no human seeks you." Loki mused more to himself than to the woman in front of him.

"Yeah." Psyche said, "Yes, I suppose."

"I seek you." Loki said suddenly. Psyche looked at him in surprise, but Loki made a face of annoyance and stood up suddenly, leaving Psyche sitting on the bench, confused. Loki made an annoyed hiss and shook his head before he started to pace around the cell, angry with himself, and the fact that he just admitted something so intimate.

The blush on Psyche's cheeks was obvious as she blinked and swallowed, suddenly feeling extremely small in the cell, in the middle of Asgard, with a frustrated demigod pacing in front of her. She said, "I brought the mythology book…"

Loki stopped pacing and glanced down at her, "The Norse Mythology. Why?"

Psyche stood up and reached into her bag to take it out. Loki walked up to her and looked over her shoulder, to see what the big deal was. She turned to Thor's page and Loki made a noise of annoyance in his throat, but she said, "You love Thor, don't you? You've always loved Thor, despite your relationship with your parents."

"That is true." Loki said softly, "I love my brother dearly."

"Because Thor was deceived just like you were." Psyche said, "Thor thought that you were his true brother as well. It had never occurred to him that you were different, like it occurred to you, and your parents knowing. He's the only person in the entire universe that has loved you unconditionally."

"Yes." Loki stated.

Psyche ran her fingers gently over the crease of the page before saying softly, "You're so lucky. He's never question his love for you, even when you questioned everything."

"But Thor does not need to question any longer." Loki stated.

"You're right. Without question, he still loves you."

Loki breathed and shook his head, before looking away from her and going over to his concrete bed and sitting down, letting his restrained wrists fall on his knees, "I believe you've proven your points this evening. I congratulate you in your excellent psychological expertise. But I believe your hour is just about up."

"Yeah." Psyche agreed.

"You better put this on me once again." Loki said, indicating to his muzzle by nodding his head at it, "So Asgard can rest in peace tonight."

Psyche went over to the muzzle and went to place it on him, but before she did, she said, "I do have a proposition for you."

Loki looked at her. She was leaning down to look at him, her hair falling over her shoulders and Loki had half a mind to run his fingers through it, but he didn't break his eye contact with her deep, brown eyes, "Yes?" He said.

"I just want to know." She said, "For certain. If you're ever pretending with me."

"Pretending. Back to that."

"Are you?" Psyche asked, "Are you pretending? Do you really care if I'm on time or not?"

"I care a great deal." Loki said, his blue eyes staring at her with as much intensity as she was using with her brown eyes. His jaw was so set, so cut and he was pressing his lips together to form his next statement. "And I promise, that I'm not pretending."

Psyche reached around his head to put his muzzle on, and Loki noticed that she took her time in clipping the clasp behind his head. But he didn't mind. He was able to smell her and watch as her eyes flitted between his, her long eyelashes, he noticed, curled slightly at the end naturally, and they framed her eyes just perfectly. The only thing that bothered Loki, with Psyche's arms around his neck and her standing so close, was that there was a muzzle of his lips and his hands were cuffed. She smiled at him, a warm genuine smile that he never could quite pull off, and she said, "If Thor had tried to enslave Earth, would you stop him?"

Loki narrowed his eyes and let out a disappointed breath. He had expected a lovely 'Goodnight' or an 'I seek you too,' but instead it was Thor. The demigod of cockblocking, he was.

"Miss Psyche?" Came a command from the other side of the basement. Loki watched as Psyche stood up quickly and waited, "Miss Psyche, it's been an hour."

"Alright, I'm ready." Psyche announced, and the guard came to the cell and looked between them.

The guard said, "So what did you say to him for an hour? Did you just talk to him?"

"Yes." Psyche said, "He's a very good listener."

"You had the desire to simply…speak to Prince Loki?" The guard asked. He glanced at Loki, who shrugged innocently from where he was sitting.

Psyche looked at him, at Loki, and Loki stared right back at her. His blue eyes, they were calm. Psyche said, "He understands me, I suppose."

"Odin wishes to meet with you tomorrow morning." The guard informed while unlocking the door, "You will need your rest tonight. Come, miss, we'll escort you safely."

Psyche left the cell and glanced back at Loki. He watched her go, wearing her white nightgown that hugged her where he liked watching. She smiled at him as the guard talked about something she obviously didn't care about, her brown eyes glimmering. She could see his blue eyes clearly, even when the rest of him, his green and his black, faded in the darkness. And when the guard closed the large stone door of the basement, Loki leaned back on the wall and looked at the ceiling above him. Would he really stop Thor, if their roles were reversed?

The guard trumped beside Psyche dutifully and said, "Prince Loki will be put on trial. Odin commanded it while you were down there."

"Oh." Psyche said, "What are Asgardian trials like?"

"You either walk away as a certified innocent man, or you are executed." The guard said.

"How does someone decide, though?" Psyche asked, "Where does one get their evidence?"

"The gatekeeper Heimdall has seen everything Loki has done. He will inform Odin of Loki's morale, and Odin will judge him accordingly."

Then Psyche realized for certain, about the deflated demigod in his cell in the basement of Asgard, she knew she'll be losing the only person in all of the Nine Worlds that helped her identify herself.

* * *

Big update is big because little writer didn't want to split this up into two chapters. Thanks for the reviews, for the alerts, for simply reading. I hope this isn't too long for you; I'm sorry if it is. But it'll hold you over for a couple days while I, you know, have a life. Please feel free to comment on what's happening, on how Loki is portrayed and where the story is going. Your feedback is very important to me, and so long as it's respectful, I'll take heed. xx


	10. The First of Two

"Let's see…" Psyche said gently as she opened her Mythology book, "Sif is…the wife of Thor in human Norse Mythology."

Immediately Sif and the Warriors Three burst into laughter, hysterics even. Sif especially, and this caused Psyche to look up wearily. Sif said, "Thor and I am but friends and comrades. It is the human woman he loves."

"Oh yeah." Psyche said, "Frigga talked about her. Jane."

"Quite taken, quite taken." Volstagg chuckled, "No time for Sif, that's for sure."

"Do Asgardians fall in love?" Psyche asked, "Like, do they date? Go to movies?"

"By no means!" Frandral said aghast, "We court, M'Lady."

"Court." Psyche said, "Like how?"

"Small things, really." Frandral said, with his air of 'experience' hanging over the four others. He smiled at his friends, whom all rolled their eyes before he said, while leaning casually on the pillar beside Psyche's bed, "We fight."

"…Fight?"

"Anything, really." Frandral went on, "Each other. A Bilgesnipe. Other worlds. All for your woman."

"What is a bilgensnipe?" Psyche asked.

"It's a large monster with scales and antlers." Frandral went on, "It's quite scary for a young lady." Frandral stopped to watch her reaction, but Psyche only seemed even more confused and most of all, not as impressed as he hoped, so he said, "Has a man never fought for you? How do men let young ladies know they're interested?"

"I'm…" Psyche thought, "I'm not sure."

There was an awkward silence, of which Sif gave her comrade a cruel look, but it was broken but a sudden noise and buzzing coming from Psyche's purse. She looked just as surprised as the other's, but she opened the purse and pulled out her phone, which was playing the ringtone of "Who's That Girl" by Guy Sebastian, thus confusing the other occupants even more.

Psyche pressed answer and held it to her ear, "…Hello?"

"Psyche?" Came Missy's voice.

"Missy…Oh my god, Missy! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, why? What's up with your voice? Anyway, I can't talk long, I was wondering if you'd pick up milk on your way home tonight."

"…Milk?"

"It's a liquid from a sow, Miss Psyche." Volstagg informed her politely.

"Yeah. You know, it's your turn to get milk."

"Missy, where are you and Wendy?"

"We're at the hotel until we can find a new apartment. Did you see the Avengers on the news? And did you see our house? It's a pile of rocks! All my paintings are gone and Wendy lost her favorite bong—"

"It's been three days, Missy!" Psyche yelled into the phone in a shrilly voice, "You haven't seen me for three days, haven't you worried about where I was?"

"We just thought you were at work. Why, did your new boyfriend lend you his million dollar pad up on Madison Square for the time being?"

Psyche was breathing heavily and shaking her head, almost to the point that it worried Sif and the others. Sif even approached and sat down on the bed next to Psyche and laid her hand on the other's shoulder to comfort her, but Psyche shook her head even more, and pulled the phone away from her ear, and pressed "end."

The first thing that Loki heard the next morning was the gentle footsteps of a very familiar man, whom, Loki thought with amusement, was never one for sneaking around. With such a great magical and godly force attached to him, Odin could never completely sneak up on his son. Thor, maybe, but never Loki.

Loki glanced up from where he had his eyes closed, resting quietly while the guard kept glancing at him to make sure he was still there. Odin came to the door, and nodded at the guard to open the cell gate. Once open, the guard went inside and detached the muzzle from Loki's lips, and he closed the door once again. Unlike Psyche, Odin sat outside of the cell, on the chair, facing his son. The metal of the cell became somewhat translucent, a mechanism that Odin had commanded from the creater, for ease of communication between the holder and the held. While all this was going on, Loki hadn't changed his position or even moved his head, but watched his adoptive father make himself comfortable.

"Good morning." Loki said softly.

"Not a very good morning." Odin stated, "Though, I suppose, it's the first morning for a while that I've woken up knowing that both my sons are safe."

"One is in a cell, in case you've forgotten."

"I had Heimdall relay the conversation between you and Miss Psyche last night." Odin stated, "I thought you'd like to know."

"Yes, you've always been considerate in letting me know things." Loki agreed.

"You feel for this woman."

"Somewhat."

"Enough to converse with her openly." Odin said, "To have inside jokes with her, to care for her safety, even to have a petty argument with her about the two of you."

"To be fair." Loki stated, "She's the one that starts the petty arguments. Every single time. She's ghastly simplistic."

"And yet you seek her."

Loki shook his head, annoyed at himself even more for saying that when he did. Sure, he wanted to say it. But to Psyche and Psyche alone, not to his father and Heimdall. Pressing his lips together and looking away from Odin, he stated, "Why are you here?"

"I want to know what will happen." Odin said, "When you're sentenced. What will we do with Miss Psyche?"

Loki glanced at his father. In the psychology book that Psyche had first let him borrow, it spoke about underlying meanings in a conversation, used to ease the tension or to lesson a blow.

Odin was telling Loki that he was going to be sentenced to death.

"Take her back to Earth." Loki said coolly, "And make sure she never sees another Asgardian again."

"She will be distraught. As we all will be."

"I only have interest in her wellbeing." Loki seethed out.

Odin was silent for a few moments while Loki looked at where the wall met the floor, a far more interesting thing to observe than his father's disappointed look. But then Odin said, "Is it all my fault?"

"I don't know. Ask Psyche."

"Loki." Odin said, "If it hurt so much, you could have come to me. If you ever felt out of place, your mother and I would hav—"

"Have done what?" Loki suddenly snapped, whipping his head at his father and breathing heavily. His hands, still chained, pulled on the metal and the welts that were forming underneath annoyed him even more, as he said, "Or does it matter? You favored Thor, you've always favored Thor! My approaching you with an emotional problem would have cast me deeper into his shadow. I am a liability to this kingdom." Loki finished.

"You never let me explain myself!" Odin practically yelled, and he stood up from where he was sitting and went to the bars of the cell. Loki stood up too, and the guards that were around backed off suddenly, preferring not to interfere with their mighty fight.

"That's because you lie!" Loki yelled back, "The All Father of Asgard, the King of an entire world, lies!"

"And you do not lie? You do not manipulate?"

"I had no choice, I've always been a lie." Loki seethed, "And I've learned manipulation from the best—you."

Odin pushed himself away from the cell bars that he was clinging on to and stepped a few feet away from his son. Loki's eyes were ice cold, and they bore into his father with such intensity that, for the moment, Odin thought it prudent to pause. The veins in Loki's neck were constricted and he was breathing heavily, and his hair, with some blood still within the strands, was fluffed up and disheveled. His son looked like a maniac.

"We don't want to lose you, Loki." Odin said.

"You've already lost me." Loki stated, "You lost me when Laufey lost me."

With that, Odin made a disgusted face before turning around and leaving his son in the basement, alone with the guards. Loki didn't yell after him, though he normally did if he won a small argument. A guard who was waiting for Odin to dismiss himself opened the cell door and put the muzzle back on a surprisingly compliant Loki.

Odin walked through the castle and found himself standing on one of the large balconies provided for the palace, that looked over all of Asgard. It was peaceful, Asgard and Earth were safe, everyone was happy. Except him. To be a just King, to rule of Asgard, even for Thor to rule over Asgard, meant the peace and safety of all creatures in his world. Every single one. And if that safety was to be compromised, then Odin knew deep down in his heart that he and Thor's job was to protect this world, his home, from every force. But in his long life, in his long career of ruling, Odin had never had this force be someone so close.

"Father." Came Thor's voice behind him, "How is Loki?"

"Angry."

"Still." Thor sighed, "I suppose he'll die angry."

"And how is Miss Psyche?"

"Sif is dressing her as we speak." Thor explained, "Sif explained that Psyche was depressed today. She does this to cheer her up."

"Depressed?" Odin asked, "For whatever reason?"

"Homesick?" Thor ventured.

Odin nodded and watched the golden sky before him as Thor stood beside him. Side-by-side, the two of them looked so much alike, Frigga often mentioned how similar they both were. Of which Thor would say something about him being the better-looking one of the two, because he had the genes of Frigga in him as well. And Loki would…stay silent during this.

"Look there, Son." Odin said, reaching over to put his arm around his eldest, "How the sky bursts into black like that. It's astonishing, the Asgardian sky. Truly a wonder."

"Jane would have loved it." Thor whispered.

Loki perked up suddenly in his cell, and it made the guard jump slightly, but he calmed himself when he realized that Loki had simply closed his eyes. Only Loki had not only closed his eyes, but they were squeezed shut, and his breathing had become heavy.

"…Prince Loki…?" The guard ventured through the cell bars.

Loki didn't answer; he only bowed his head in his breathing and waited. His body became tense and he seemed to have gone into some type of trance; some type of hypnosis.

"We should get Odin." The other guard said, as they both stood before the cell and watched the Norse god.

"Jane should visit." Odin suggested, "When it's safe."

"You would allow this?" Thor asked, "A mortal coming to Asgard?"

"Well we already have one mortal, and the air of Asgard does not harm her, and why not? Miss Jane already knows about us. There is no reason for her not visiting." Odin replied, as he watched the black swirl in the middle of the sky. "She could analyze that cloud formation for us."

Thor chuckled, "Jane worried so. She'd probably say it's an abnormality." The swirl became bigger.

"We can't just go up to Odin and tell him Loki is asleep…" The guard argued, "He'll kill us for wasting his time."

"But Loki isn't asleep. It looks like he's in pain!"

"He's overreacting." The guard said, "He's a trickster. He's only trying to get our pity so we let him out. We can't fall for his tricks, no matter what."

"You think..?"

"He's evil." The other guard snapped, "He's a bad fellow. We can't let him out."

But Loki wasn't hearing their conversation. He was hearing another conversation, or to be more accurate, a scolding; a follow up to a previous threat. Of which one sentence stood out to Loki more than the rest:

_"And when we're finished with you, we'll cut Psyche Velle's throat."_

"Father." Thor stated, "That cloud isn't a cloud."

Odin sighed and shook his head as the vortex became larger, and the swirling started to suck up some of the matter of Asgard, "I feared for this."

"Prince Loki…!" The guard yelled, as Loki jumped up from where he was sitting and stood in front of the cell bars. The two guards, despite the fact that there was a cell between them and Loki, jumped away and stumbled over each other. Loki gave a sharp nod, and in an instant, the bars of the cell came tumbling down, thus causing the two guards to stumble away even more. "Get Odin!" The one yelled, but Loki ignored the both of them.

He walked on, past the two guards, and through the basement. His hands were red with his clenching and he ripped his hands away from each other, causing the chains on his wrists to break apart in a clatter of metal as they fell to the floor in his swift pace.

He walked on, and went straight to his the healing quarters. He passed Sif and the Warriors Three, all of which ran to where Odin and Thor were speaking.

Loki reached up casually and tore the muzzle of his face as he walked through the palace that he knew so well, heading straight to where he could feel a mortal aura. Finding the right door, he didn't speak to the terrified guards as he pushed the door open and went inside.

There was a scream, and Psyche stood in the middle of the guest room, wearing her dress that had been mended by some of the women of Asgard, the one that flattered her hips, and her long blond hair was laying over her shoulder. She gave him a shocked look and said, "…Loki?"

"Where are my brother and father? Get your things together." He stated quickly, as he walked up to her and around the room, glancing here and there, before saying, "You look nice," and walking over to the window to look outside. Sure enough, there was the large black hole in the middle of the clouds. Giving the sky an evil glare, he turned to look at Psyche, who hadn't moved, "Well? Your purse, quickly."

"Why? Where are we going? How did you get out of your cell?"

"You ask too many—"

"Loki!" Came Thor's voice from down the hallway, followed by a trembling of feet. Perfect, thought Loki, as his brother barged in and glared at his younger brother, "How did you get out?"

"Brother, haven't you forgotten?" Loki asked innocently, "Father and I designed the prison in the palace basement." Loki glanced at Odin, who appeared next to his brother, "It was the only thing we did together, ironically."

"There is something wrong with the sky, son." Odin said, "I assume you have something to do with this."

"Surprisingly, I have nothing to do with this particular event that is unfolding." Loki said.

"Well." Thor said to his father, "We must fight them."

Odin glanced at his eldest son and then to his youngest. By this point, Frigga, Sif and the Warriors Three had entered the room, all looking to Loki and Psyche. Odin gave Loki a conflicted look as Loki looked around himself and out the window again. Psyche, sensing something, went over to the bedside table and did as Loki commanded her to do—she collected her bag and stood beside her bed.

"Alright..." Loki started, and he walked over to Psyche. Psyche blinked at him, but she didn't flinch away like she had the first time he approached her. Loki went up to her, and swiftly picked her up by her hips, causing Psyche to let out a squeak of surprise. Then Loki went over to his brother and held Psyche out to him, like she was some ragdoll, "Take her back to Earth. Get the Tesseract, transport her with you."

"What?" Thor asked, "I intend to protect this world. My world. Loki, our world!"

"She's safe on Earth and you won't be shot down immediately upon entering." Loki continued, "Take her to Stark Tower or to your little spy organization." He gently placed Psyche in front of Thor, making her quite dwarfed, but she continued to stare at him.

"And I am supposed to trust you to protect Asgard while I do this, Brother?" Thor asked, suspicious.

"Loki…" Psyche whispered, her brown eyes searching his own blue ones. Loki glanced at her when she said his name, so softly, softer than she ever had, and she asked, "What is that?"

Loki didn't look away from her, and his eyes became soft and it alarmed Thor more than everyone. But Loki ignored his family, and he reached up to where her hair was sitting on one of her shoulders and falling down in gentle waves, and he took it in his hand and ran his fingers through it. They went through completely smooth, and Psyche's hair was as soft as he had imagined, warm, and the strands slipped out of his reach just like she had so many times.

"That." Explained Loki gently, "Is the first of my death sentences."

* * *

Back to short chapters. But I would just like to say, in all caps if it's alright: OMG I GOT TO 100 REVIEWS! I've been waiting for this moment since I started writing Fanfiction, and I know, there are stories out there that have hundreds, some thousands, of reviews, and mine doesn't compare. But it's been my fan fiction goal and I've finally made it and I guess I'll just say thank you SO much for reviewing. I love reading them, I love seeing how you guys are reading it, it makes me happy to know that this is a story worth reading, even if it actually isn't. So thanks! xxxxxxxxxx


	11. Getting a Tan

"Sir." Said J.A.R.V.I.S., "I've found a discrepancy in local phone lines..."

"Now, wait, Brucie, hold the screwdriver just there, no, no, just like that, right in the middle. Come on, you're almost as bad as Butterfingers—no offence. There we are and..." there was a huge bang and some smoke, added with a bright blue light that made Butterfingers shudder and roll himself away. "Ha ah!" Tony yelled, "Nice, huh?"

"Very loud." Bruce laughed politely, while gently putting the screwdriver back on the counter where it belonged "It's a good thing you have your own building..."

"It's great." Tony said proudly, "I like the new balcony you made on the top floor. And the Loki shaped hot tub-you should invest in interior design."

"Sir." Jarvis said with more persistence, "The phone lines."

"Phone lines?" Bruce asked.

"I keep J.A.R.V.I.S. scanning the New York phone lines 24/7." Tony explained as he walked over to a computer and tapped a few buttons, "After all the bullshit I've gone through with people in New York, I decided I would keep tabs on everyone. Of course no one can detect J.A.R.V.I.S. Just a security measure." Tony smiled awkwardly to Bruce before spinning around, ducking under Butterfingers, and going over to another one of the computers, "What do you got?" He asked J.A.R.V.I.S.

"There was a call from a New York cellphone number to a very odd power source. It has the same gamma radiation levels as the Tesseract..."

"What?" Bruce asked, "But the Tesseract is in Asgard..."

Tony was pushing buttons and he watched the trace of the number leave earth, "The cellphone called Asgard..."

"How is that possible?"

"The Tesseract is a power source and a door between worlds. So it powered the other cellphone enough to receive the call." Tony said out loud as he pushed a few more buttons, and a screen came up of the earth and how far the trace got before J.A.R.V.I.S. lost it. "It makes sense, really. It's a magical object. I bet it learned about our power and duplicated it." Tony flicked his eyes around and said, "Just a hypothesis, though."

"So whose phone was it?"

Tony pushed another button, and a profile came up that was attached to the number. Not only did Psyche's picture come up, but the security footage from Stark Tower. Tony and Bruce stared at the blond, smiling back at them, and after a long pause, Tony said softly, "Well...Why don't we give our friend Thor a ring?"

Meanwhile, back in Asgard, Psyche was standing in front of Thor and staring at Loki with worry and shock. Her cheeks were red and her brushed hair had become fluffed. Psyche didn't have a reply. She only stared at him blankly as Loki made a face at a stunned Thor, before turning around and going over to the open balcony to have a look. "They're advancing."

"Who?" Odin asked, "Who have you lured here?"

Loki watched as the clouds split a part even more, and even he looked concerned, pursing his lips together and scrunching his nose in thought, though he didn't seem as nervous as Psyche or Thor. Loki said softly, "I...made an alliance while I was in the abyss. And they've come for me."

"To take you back?" Odin almost yelled, "To take you back, their beloved team member! You'd betray us for the third time, Loki! You're willing to leave Miss Psyche, your country, so that you are safe?" Flabbergasted, Odin started to approach his youngest, to talk to him, to teach him a lesson, and Frigga didn't intend to stop him.

But when Loki turned around to address his father and mother, he was cut off by Psyche, who said softly, "No. No, they're coming to kill him. You weren't being sarcastic, Loki. When you said death sentence…you weren't making one of your jokes. You failed your end of the bargain, didn't you?"

"Psychology." Loki explained to a flustered Odin with a deadpan look, "It's very beneficial."

There was a pause with everyone in the large room. Odin felt foolish, or at least Loki thought he looked foolish. He had stepped away from his son and made a look to his wife, to indicate that for the moment, Loki was safe to be in his presence. Though that didn't stop the ever-impending dread that Loki would turn on them, or seek his own safety over their own, and when that moment came, this time, Odin wanted to be prepared. But the pause was soon broken by "Who's that Chick."

Psyche jumped the highest and reached into her bag to pull out her phone. Thor and Loki, having known about cellphones of Earth, looked even more surprised—Well, Loki looked flat out annoyed.

"Hello?" Psyche asked.

"Hello." Came Tony's cheerful voice, "Just checking in on our favorite Norse alien. How's Asgard? Getting some sun?"

Thor, recognizing Tony's voice, swiftly walked around Psyche and looked straight at her, "Is that Tony Stark?"

Psyche nodded while Tony, on the other line, asked Bruce how many suns Asgard had. Then she listened as he absently told J.A.R.V.I.S. to find out.

"May I speak with him?" Thor asked politely. Psyche nodded and handed Thor the phone before looking at Loki, who glared at her from behind his older brother. Thor put the phone to his ear, hit the metal feathers of his helmet, took the helmet off and handed it to his mother, before putting the phone to his ear a second time and saying, "Tony? Tony, how are you communicating with me?"

"I'm thinking it's your Tesseract." Tony said.

Thor continued then, "Loki's allies are coming to kill him, but it looks to me they also intend to invade Asgard all the same."

"Well." Tony said, "Green thinks that very rude to not invite him." Thor listened as Bruce politely denied it from the other side, but Tony's voice overpowered him and he said, "Do you want help?"

"Help?" Thor asked.

"Well. You saved my world. Might as well save yours." Tony explained.

"And what about Nick Fury? And S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Thor asked, walking over as one does when they're on the phone, to the window, and looking up to the clouds with his brother. Loki watched him out the corner of his eye silently. "Will they let you come to Asgard?"

"What they don't know won't hurt them." Tony explained, "I'll call Steve. But we need a lift."

"Right." Thor agreed, "I'll receive you in Central Park."

"Roger that." Tony said, and the line went dead. Thor listened for a few moments, thinking to himself, before he took the phone from his ear and pushed the red button.

"They don't want to fight you." Loki whispered to his brother, in a way that no one else could hear their conversation. Odin had returned to his wife and started to speak to her about getting Psyche to a safe place, Psyche in turn listened to the god, and the guards did also. Loki continued while he had the chance, "They only want me. If they can have me, they'll leave Asgard alone."

"You are willing to sacrifice yourself." Thor confirmed, "That's not like you."

Loki didn't reply. He only stared out before him as the abyss started to form its portal. The citizens of Asgard, knowing their drills, started to go to their safe havens.

"You are afraid." Thor whispered. "Like you were on Stark Tower. I know that face, Brother."

Loki looked behind him and his brother, to where Psyche was standing with his godly parents standing over her. She looked so diminutive, so small and fragile in contrast to the Asgardians. And so pure, so untouched by the darkness that was himself. She smiled at him awkwardly as Frigga reached over to brush a piece of her dislodged hair away from her bright brown eyes and asked her something.

Thor figured it out. "You fear for her life."

"Obviously."

"I'll take her with me to Earth." Thor agreed, "But I disagree with you."

Loki glanced at him in genuine surprise, "You disagree with me keeping her safe? Don't you like humans, Brother?"

"I don't think you should push her away in your moments of weakness." Thor stated, in a moment of prolific wisdom that annoyed Loki to no end. He always knew what to say to make Loki feel, well, emotions.

"She is your strength." Thor said after Loki seethed in silence for a few moments. "And you and I fighting together will be another strength."

Loki looked at Thor and said, "There are things that even you can't relate to, Brother." And he turned around, promptly dismissing Thor, before looking to his parents and Psyche. "You'll be going back to Earth with Thor, who will thus pick up the Avengers."

Psyche went to protest. She went to say something along the lines of 'but I want to stay here,' or even, 'I can't leave you,' but she couldn't. The stone cold look in Loki's eyes made it so that he couldn't be argued against. So with a sigh, she whispered, "Okay."

"I'll go get the Tesseract." Thor said gently, before nodding to his father and his mother. It was a hint, a hint to leave Loki and Psyche be. Any other occupants of the room—the Warriors Three, Sif, the servants—promptly left as well.

Loki stood in front of the window silently as Psyche stood awkwardly behind him. Gently, Loki said, "Psyche. Will you come here?" And Loki waited while he listened to the soft padding of Psyche's bare feet along the floor, and they arrived just beside him. She allowed her shoulder to brush against his arm and she, too, looked off to the clouds. The portal was beaming down to the land now, and soon there would be an alien coming from it. Loki, for a moment, had to allow himself to feel arrogant. Without the Tesseract they had to conjure multitudes of dark matter, all for little old him.

"You're not really going to die, are you?"

Loki glanced down at Psyche, but she looked on. He realized that her eyes looked like Asgard did when he was but a young god, and Thor, stronger than he was, would pick him up and give him a piggyback ride. Then, in his excitement and forgetting his otherwise composed exterior, Loki would demand that Thor spin in circles, and in a haze of youth irresponsibility, he and Thor would become dizzy and his world would be free of the confines of space and time; out of control, and Asgard would blend together in one single color of gold and brown—it was no wonder he liked her eyes so much. He said, however, "I suppose so."

"What about me?"

"You will be safe on Earth." Loki confirmed.

There was silence as Loki watched her slowly look up at him, "You know that's not what I mean."

Loki made a frustrated noise from his throat and turned to face her, and looking down at her, he said gruffly, "You're not making this easy. Not in the least."

Psyche smiled in her way and she said softly, "Neither are you…"

Loki nodded in his understanding and rubbed the back of his neck, to magically produce the same scarf that Psyche had thrown at him when she had left Stark Tower. "Here." He said as he reached over her and placed the scarf on her shoulders and started to wrap the knot in the front. But his hands didn't leave the scarf when he was finished. His large, angular hands stayed where they were, and he could feel her heart beat like a rabbit's under his knuckles. "I will do my best to return to you." He promised, "But if it means jeopardizing your safety, I will not."

"Maybe I don't want to be safe anymore."

Loki watched her intently as she took a feeble step forward so that she was closer, and she looked down at the scarf absently before looking up to him again. Loki stated, "You know, when one experiences regret or post traumatic stress after making a choice, it can cause psychological damage."

"Mmmhmm." Psyche said absently, "But only if you regret them." Her hands had reached up to tap her nails on the gold plate of his clothes absently as she watched him.

"And you are certain you will not?" Loki asked, "Because I will tell you, from the perspective of one that is psychologically damaged, regrets are much more damaging than any sort of physical torture."

Psyche's eyes flicked up to his blue ones, and Loki stopped rubbing the scarf with his thumb to keep his eye contact with her own. The light from the setting Asgardian sun reflected in her brown eyes and the blush on her cheeks was unmistakable. "Is this physical torture?" Psyche asked.

"Of course not." Loki said in a smooth, deep voice as he leaned down, because he had to, so that he was mere inches away from her. He watched for a few moments as her eyes flicked between his own quickly. She was smiling, a genuine smile. Loki's knuckles felt her heart speed up as he leaned closer, and he exhaled gently before he gently tugged on the scarf and Psyche's nails immediately stopped drumming on his gold chest plate.

Her lips were soft. That was his first thought, and his second occurred when he felt a trickle of warmth weave itself from the tips of his own lips, up his cheeks, across his jawbone, and down his throat. He relaxed momentously, as did Psyche, in realizing the effect she had on him. She was warm and comforting, she felt like home.

But Loki felt the coldness of the shadow of the impending invasion, and he pulled away hesitantly and immediately Psyche went to rest her forehead on his chest and Loki instinctively pulled her closer so he could look over her head and look at the sky once again. The gape in the sky had become bigger and it meant one thing: he was about to lose his home for the sake of Asgard.

There was a knock on the door and Loki let go of Psyche but kept an arm around her and said, "We're ready."

Thor came in with the Tesseract, as did Odin and Frigga and the Warriors Three. Psyche smiled awkwardly at them but they weren't smiling at all. The blush on her cheeks left completely.

"Loki." Thor said, approaching with more confidence than his family, "I'll take Psyche back. I'll bring the Avengers."

Loki nodded, "Sure."

"We'll protect Asgard." Thor said confidently, "Together, Brother."

Loki rubbed his thumb across Psyche's spine gently and said, "Keep her at S.H.I.E.L.D. this time."

Thor nodded and held out his arm for Psyche to take. Psyche looked up at Loki once more, he glanced at her, and it was his turn to smile awkwardly. Psyche shook her head at him before taking her step away, and slowly she started to walk to Thor. Loki realized how cold his side was without her.

Psyche grabbed her backpack off the floor and took Thor's arm. Thor nodded to his family, and said, "I'll be back momentarily." Before he held out the other end of the Tesseract for Psyche to take. Psyche took it and breathed in a large puff of air before Thor switched it on, and they disappeared into space and time.

Loki didn't speak to anyone. He hardened his face and started to walk straight past his father and mother. But Odin stopped him by asking, "What are you to do now?"

"I'm going to the portal." Loki said, allowing his horned helmet to take form on his head, and a staff started to form in his hand.

"You look like you've gotten color…" Frigga mused, "You look tan…"

"Will you come back?" Odin asked.

"Most likely not." Loki said absently as he pulled up his sleeves and switched hands with his staff. Without speaking again, he walked out of the door and left his family behind. It was better, Loki thought, to leave them on a colder note than the note with Psyche.

It took him a few minutes to walk out of the castle. The guards, having heard about all the events happening in that one room upstairs, avoided Loki as he walked near them. They actually proved to amuse him. If only they had done this because he was a king, and not because he brought curses onto the lands he occupied.

Outside was supposed to be sunny, but of course it was not. The shadow of the portal hung over the entire land, and Loki watched as the dark pillar in the middle of the clearing blazed with what looked like dark matter and fire. Pursing his lips with determination, Loki stepped through the pillar, and with a twist of his gut, arrived in the middle of space.

Loki stood in the middle of the same meteor that he had found himself upon plenty of times. It was cold, Psyche's warmth was completely gone, and Loki swallowed as he glanced around himself. Millions of Chitauri floated around him.

"Well." Said the Other, "You came willingly."

"Close the portal." Loki stated, "And I'm all yours. That is my only request."

"You plan to face me alone?"

"Close the portal." Loki repeated, "There will be no interruptions from the Avengers this time."

Odin and Frigga, and the rest of Asgard, watched as the pillar of darkness and the hole in the sky, slowly faded away, and the sun came out over Asgard once again, and set gleams against the gold and bronze buildings, so that Asgard once again glowed as Psyche's eyes did.

* * *

Sorry for the bit of a long update. I'm just doing exams at the moment, so obviously I'm busy. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Means a lot!


	12. Sure

Psyche almost fell when she landed with Thor in the middle of Central Park, but his strong arm held her straight and the only struggle she felt was a slight shuffle of imbalance. She smiled at Thor politely before stepping away from him quickly, opting to steer clear of the man that annoyed Loki so much.

"You will be safe." Thor instructed, or stated, sternly, "At Stark Tower."

"Right." Psyche said densely, "You're going back to help Loki?"

"I am, yes." Thor confirmed, "I will need your cellular phone, however."

"Oh.." Psyche said, "Right. Sure, you can borrow it." Not like she had a choice, with a Norse god hovering over her, she thought as she reached into her bag to fetch it, but the two were interrupted by the clanking of Ironman's feet.

"Welcome back!" Tony said through his Iron helmet, "I've missed you! It's been so long!" Beside him walked Captain America, Bruce Banner, Black Widow, and Hawkeye.

"Everyone is indeed coming?" Thor asked.

"No." Tony said, "The Spider and Legolas will be staying with Psyche. They can get her to S.H.I.E.L.D. if they have to. And since they don't have any fun party tricks, we're not sure how they'd suit with Asgard and space and things."

Natasha smiled in a somewhat friendly way, but it was Hawkeye that did a nod and made Psyche feel welcome. The two of them, in the end, did look extremely stern, but Psyche reckoned it was their training. "Hello…" Psyche said softly as she looked Clint over. The last time she saw him properly he was drugged up on whatever Loki made, and his eyes had been glazed over. Now, at least, he looked healthy.

"Morning." Clint said, "You don't mind if we stop by McDonald's on the way back to Stark Tower? I'm craving French fries and Natasha only eats the hope and dreams of small spy children."

"Miss Psyche." Thor said gently, "The cellular, I ask…"

"Sorry." Psyche said as she reached into her bag again and started to look for it. The group around her idly stood by as she shuffled through her bag, her cheeks becoming hot with embarrassment. It wasn't a large purse, but it was falling a part. In truth, a bag would fall apart after being through an alien invasion, a trip through the universe into another planet and back, and being thrown, well, everywhere. But the pockets were all intact and Psyche for the life of her couldn't find her cellphone. "It's…not here…" She said softly as she got down on her knees and poured the contents onto the concrete. Thor watched with concern as a book and a few chapsticks fell out, but no cellphone. Psyche looked up at Thor, "I don't have it…you had it last."

"While speaking to Tony Stark, you're correct." Thor said, "My apologies, Miss Psyche. I assumed you reclaimed it again." Thor smiled and went to help her up once everything was in her purse again.

Tony said dully, "…So where is it?"

"The last time I had it, I was speaking to you." Thor said to Tony absently, and he walked around like he was reenacting the entire scene, "I stood in front of the window that looked out over all of Asgard, I was watching the black clouds as you spoke. Loki was standing beside me and I believe he overheard our conversation because he said—"

"Wait." Clint stopped him, "Loki was standing right beside you? Like, right right beside you?"

"Of course." Thor said, "My brother always stands beside me. He wasn't in his cell because of the invasion. We released him for the moment."

"Loki pinched it." Bruce said suddenly, "He stole it right off you."

Thor stared at him and everyone could see the gears turning in his head, but it was true. Loki had distracted Thor by letting Thor say his prolific bit of wisdom about love and life, let him become cocky in his ability to act like a king, be full of himself, and be distracted enough to let Loki steal the cellphone. "Oh…" Thor whispered.

"We call it?" Tony said, and he pulled out his cellphone to call Psyche's, now Loki's, number.

"Will it work without the power of the Tesseract?" Natasha asked.

Tony shrugged and looked at Bruce. Bruce said with an air of uncertainty, "It's possible that the Tesseract's power can reach Loki. It's unlimited power, the great power source, anyway…And since the phone has already hooked up with the Tesseract, it might not have ever disconnected…"

Tony nodded, impressed, and waited while listening to the droning toll ringing in his ear through his helmet.

Loki glanced down at one of his leather pockets that laid over his chest, having taken the breastplate off when he came face-to-face with Thanos and the Other, to see the little square of blue light shining through. It was vibrating, Loki having been suave enough to turn it onto silent while walking to the black pillar. He covered the square gently with his coat before looking up at the Other and the Other's army.

The Other was currently telling Loki of the Norse god's lack of ability.

"You failed to conquer Earth, failed to defeat your brother, and you lost the Tesseract. You are an utterly useless, dead-beat being. We should have never became your ally."

"Well then for that, I apologize." Loki said smoothly.

"You should. But you'll be paying for your worthlessness soon enough." And the Chitauri started to approach slowly. "Lay down your weapon, Loki Laufeyson, and accept your punishment."

To this, Loki simply dropped his staff on the ground before him and stood still.

"What do you mean you can't get to where Loki is?" Psyche all but screeched as she looked at the other Avengers, "Are you telling me he went alone?"

"Well." Thor said, "He was intending to sacrifice himself."

"And you let him?" Psyche almost yelled.

"I did not." Thor snapped, "I simply told him I would help. I told him not to go alone. I specifically said I was receiving the rest of the Avengers and he said 'sure.'"

"Sure in 'Loki' means something completely different than our 'Sure.'" Psyche snapped back, "Didn't you know that?"

"I do not dissect my brother's language. I expect him to speak to me straight!" Thor yelled.

"He's never spoken straight!" Psyche screamed back to him, "That's why he can just tell you things! Because you're too stupid to understand anything!"

Thor puffed out a large breath of air and approached Psyche threatingly, and when he got close, she thus backed away but couldn't escape, and he seethed down to her harshly, "I love my brother. I loved my brother before you loved him. Do not think for a moment, Miss Psyche, that you are the only one who feels pain in Loki's death."

"He's not dead." Psyche whispered back fiercely, "You can save him if you try."

"And how would you know?" Thor asked.

"Because you loved him before anyone else did." She confirmed back to him, "Just like you said."

Thor stared down at her for a few moments before breathing in a calming breath and standing away from her. Tony had been standing tense, sure, but it was Bruce, Clint and Natasha who were prepared to intervene. When Thor properly backed away, there was an awkward pause between the group of them.

"So now what?" Tony asked.

"We go to Asgard." Thor said, "As planned. We'll leave now, and we'll see if the Dark Pillar is still there."

"Done." Tony stated as he went over to where the launch area would be. "I'm not sure how much use I'll be in the middle of space. I don't think J.A.R.V.I.S. appreciates space ice."

"Then you will stay in Asgard." Thor said as he went over to the middle of the clearing, intending to prepare himself for transport. Clint and Natasha stood beside Psyche as the men went to Thor. It would end up being Bruce, Steve and Tony that would aid in defending Asgard, but only Thor could travel through space; possibly Bruce but it would be a long shot.

Thor held out the Tesseract, and the others took hold. There was a pause as Thor twisted it, and the four of them left Earth.

"…So what do we do?" Psyche asked.

"We wait." Natasha said.

Loki glanced up long enough to watch his own staff come swinging towards him for the umpteenth time and hitting him square in the face, cutting his cheek to an even deeper wound. He was sitting on his knees, his hands behind his back, and he could feel his own blood running down his cheek as he looked up at The Other once again. Don't break eye contact, human behavior.

The Other made a noise with his ugly nose and lifted the staff up once again to strike Loki. But there was a sharp and deep, "Stop." That made the Other, well, stop.

Thanos walked around the two of them and said gruffly, "You've frustrated us for the last time, Loki."

"I realize that." Loki stated, though he could only see out of one of his eyes since the other one was covered in blood.

"You've killed your humans." Thanos went on, of which Loki pursed his lips bitterly, "You've attempted to take over Earth and you've failed. As I expected you would, though I wasn't expecting it to be so…embarrassing."

Loki watched keenly as the large and bulky Thanos continued to walk around on the meteor, looking over space casually, and he said, "Falling in love distracted you."

A low blow, thought Loki, but that was just like him.

"I still want that Tesseract." Thanos seethed, "I will get that Tesseract."

"Then go get it." Loki stated, in which the Other raised his staff to strike him again, but Loki continued, "I'm obviously weaker than you."

Thanos turned around to glare at Loki, before he nodded to the Other and walked away, disappearing to somewhere Loki couldn't see. The Other whipped Loki across the face once again, more blood, everywhere there was blood. It had spilled onto the ground and mixed with the space mud, and Loki realized that he was becoming dizzy.

"Don't try anything funny." The Other said, as the Chitauri around him started to hiss in agreement.

"Try something funny? I wouldn't dare. I've never been once with a sense of humor." Loki said dully, before his staff came crashing down to his skull once again.

The Other nodded to something behind Loki, and Loki felt himself be pulled up from the ground and dragged over to what looked like a wooden stake. "Very human of you." Loki stated as the soldier started to tie up arms behind the poll. Loki watched him intently as he stood in front of Loki and then he said, "Did you know the soldier that died in New York? The one that died at the hands of Iron Man? The one that Psyche spoke to?"

The soldier stopped and his green eyes narrowed at Loki dangerously as the venom from his jaws started to seep out faster. What a strike of good luck. Loki continued, "She really did care about him. I don't know why, but I bet that if he was tied to a stake she would try to save him."

The soldier puffed out a soft bit of air and Loki looked forward, in a daze almost, thinking deeply as the green eyes beside him looked closely, "Sentiment. That's what she was. The embodiment of Sentiment."

Loki watched the army advance slowly, having not heard the conversation between Loki and the soldier. The Other, though, he was hearing every word, and he glared down at Loki with the upmost hatred one could. He was snarling, growling at Loki, but Loki stared at him with his heavy eyes, his cheek that was all but torn flesh, and his face that was still covered in the scars left behind by the Hulk. Loki's body, his heart, his spin, his bones, they would be next. Loki stared straight into the eyes of The Other, and said, "I'm so glad." He whispered back defiantly, the Chitauri soldier watching him from the side as the Other watched from the front, and the army waiting, "I'm so glad I got to meet her."

"Kill him."

Psyche was pacing back and forth in the middle of one of the large living rooms in the middle of Stark Tower, looking over at everyone absently before looking out the window, then down at the scarf that was still around her neck.

"Calm down." Natasha said, "I'm sure he's fine. Not a scratch on him."

"I have a bad feeling." Psyche whispered.

Clint was looking through Tony's liquor cabinet when he said, "He's a god. He's immortal. I think."

"How can you two be so calm about this?" Psyche asked.

"How can you care so much?" Natasha retorted.

"No." Steve stated in the middle of Asgard, the gods of Asgard watching him and Iron Man argue, "No, no, no. We can't just charge into space blindly and hope for the best. He could be anywhere."

"He could be just outside this planet!" Iron Man argued through metallic voice, "We have time to get him before they drag him away or kill him." He turned around and looked at the other occupants before saying, "And…why are we still standing here?"

"What do we care anyway?" Bruce asked, having not turned into the Hulk during the trip, "He's gone and Asgard is safe. He's not our problem anymore…"

"Loki is a part of Asgard whether or not he's a criminal." Thor said sternly to his fellow Avengers, "And we _must_find him."

"See?" Tony said, "Even Thor get's it."

"So you want us to risk our lives for someone who almost killed our planet?" Steve reasoned out loud, "That seems logical."

"In the manner of honor." Thor started, "We must repay what has been given to us. Loki has sacrificed himself for the sake of Asgard, and since I am of Asgard, and I've helped you, I wish for this to be a favor among friends."

"How delightful." Tony said.

"I'm sorry, Thor." Bruce said, "But even if we do find Loki…What else will we find?"

They would find an army of Chitauri, flying in from all angles, taking slashes left and right at Loki, cutting up his armor and his skin, beating him, anything, everything, for the sake of their fallen comrades. The only one that didn't was the Chitauri that Loki had spoken with. He had stalled, hadn't gotten out of the way, and had died at the hands of another soldier blind with rage.

"Call him again." Steve said, "Call Loki again before we go running off into space."

Thor gave him a look, but he let Tony pull out his cellphone and he dialed Psyche's cellphone once again. There was a pause as the others stood around and waited, but it was Bruce who turned around and watched the Tesseract diligently instead of Tony.

"What?" Tony asked, "What are you looking at?"

"That." Bruce said.

The Tesseract, which was still being held in Thor's hand, was not only glowing its bright blue light, but it was pulsing, and shaking, and moving, and it had started doing so only when Tony tried to call Psyche's phone. Tony stared at the Tesseract, then at Thor who was watching it as well, "It's never done that." Thor confirmed.

Tony promptly hung up the phone. The Tesseract dimmed and stopped moving.

Tony opened the phone again, and called Psyche's number. The Tesseract came to life.

"Wow." Bruce said, "It's acting as a cellphone tower to Psyche's phone. Like an intergalactic service provider…They energy from the Tesseract is stuck between them…"

"If only Loki would pick up." Thor said, "He could be laying dead with that cellphone ringing in his pocket."

It was true. Loki was laying on the ground, his body battered to the pulp and he was laying in a pool of his own thick, red blood that he could feel spilling out of random wounds on his body. The Chitauri were still having their way as well, taking out knives and cutting him when they could, but they always missed that cellphone. And when it started to vibrate right over his chest, Loki let out a squeal of pain and arched his back, making the Chitauri think they had been the cause, for they roared with humor at the dying Norse god.

"That's enough." Loki heard the Other say, and the Chitauri backed off immediately, and Loki marveled how only a week ago, less than even, the Chitauri were following his commands. Only a week ago, had he tried to take over earth.

"Had enough?" The Other asked, "Are you gods really immortal?"

"I'm not entirely sure." Loki spit out, blood coming out of the side of his mouth as he spoke from his laying position.

"We should test that." The Other mused, "Like how you tested with Thor. Your own brother."

Loki puffed in a breath and some blood started to dribble from his nose as Tony Stark called him a second time, making his chest constrict with pain. Just a little longer, Loki thought.

"Thanos is gone." The Other said over Loki, "Gone to get your little planet. Since you couldn't rule it, he will. He said I could kill you personally."

"Strange." Loki said as he watched the face of the Other hover over his, "I don't recall angering you. It would be more appropriate for Thanos to kill me, wouldn't you agree? You're just his pawn, as I am."

"Was." The Other snapped.

"He hasn't picked up." Tony said as he glanced at Thor, "Your brother is a bit of a snob with phone calls."

"He knows it's you, this is why." Thor said impatiently.

"Still." Steve said, "We can't go into space. Not without knowing where he is."

"If anything, he's closer to Earth than Asgard." Bruce reasoned, "We came to protect Asgard from an invasion that didn't happen. We might as well head back to Earth."

"I'll take you back." Thor said, "But I'll be staying here."

"Thor." Bruce said gently, "I know you don't want to hear this but…There's a good chance Loki is dead."

Thor glanced at his friend, and then looked above himself to the sky, "Psyche won't be happy to hear that…"

"Still is." Loki corrected from where he was laying, "Thanos left you the chore of killing me while he went off to take over Earth. Seems like you'll always be doing his dirty work."

"I am his partner!" The Other screamed as he lifted up Loki's own staff to make the final blow, the blow that would kill Loki, it was aimed right at Loki's heart, "And I'll kill you while he kills earth!"

"Sure." Loki said, and he watched as his staff was plunged violently into his chest.

"I still want to have a look around." Thor stated to his friends as they followed him through Asgard, "Just to check."

"Really?" Steve said, "Thor, you'd be wasting time."

"You are not required to join me." Thor said suddenly, turning around and facing Captain America, "I will search for my brother myself."

"Let him do it." Tony said sternly to Steve, grabbing him by the shoulder to stop him, "To get closure."

"We'll wait here." Bruce said softly, like one would while the other needed to be alone as they went to view the body of a dead one.

The Other gave out a great scream that spit out bits of his saliva on Loki's face as he pressed the spear deeper into Loki's chest. And Loki felt it, he sure felt it, the ripple of pain that ran through his body from his chest that made him teeth clench together and a hard grunt to escape his mouth and it made his spine ache all the more. He even noticed with distain how the metal of the staff even felt a little soothing again his open wounds. But he didn't have too much time to think about that, not when a flow of hot energy started to flow out of him.

His eyes were now covered in his own blood, so Loki couldn't really see what the Other was doing, but he did feel him lean off his chest and let out a confused grunt as he did so. Loki heard the Chitauri around him start to hiss in alarm, but it was when the Other started to shake violently and be knocked away from Loki that he knew something was up. When he felt the weight of the Other off his chest, Loki waited a few moments in silence, the Chitarui as well, with his staff in his chest before he actually reached up to wipe the blood from his eyes quietly. No one was approaching him.

When he could see, Loki glanced over himself, past the staff, and looked over to where he supposed the Other was. But instead of seeing his now foe standing before him angrily, he saw a pile of what looked like burnt flesh laying on the ground before him, blue smoke coming from the heap. A little disoriented, Loki moved his vision wearily to where the staff was in his chest. It was smoking as well, melted in some parts where the Other's hands had been, and at the bottom of the staff was Psyche's cellphone, glowing Tesseract blue and snapped in half. "Curse it." Loki whispered out a chuckle as he let his head his the ground once again lazily.

The Chitauri let out another wail of surprise but Loki ignored them; they wouldn't be approaching him anytime soon, which meant that Loki could die a slow and painful death in peace. He supposed that he'd rather that than being the middle of Asgard, looking Odin in the face as his father executed him personally. He wondered what Psyche was doing at that moment. Was she worried about him? He was sure she was. Loki felt himself smile, though it hurt immensely when he did thanks to the cuts across his mouth. It was a genuine smile, his only genuine smile, a smile to space and beyond, to his woman, but it was too late. His smile had been mutilated, just like everything else.

But he smiled anyway as he let his heavy eyes close shut; he was so calm. He didn't even feel it when the staff was wretched from his chest; he was too busy dying.

* * *

Alright, we're just about finished. Now, this story can end two ways. It can end the realistic way, and it can end the happy way. Any requests? Also, I've added a photo to this story, and it's Loki from the movie poster, but I've changed the colours so that he's the same colour as Psyche's eyes. See what I did there? Thanks for reading! Means a LOT! xx


	13. Stars and Memories

"Any news?" Natasha said to Clint. He shook his head.

Night had fallen over the slowly rebuilding New York, and Psyche had been sitting on the balcony of Stark Tower, watching the sky fervently without moving from her spot. After a quick trip to McDonalds and trying to convince J.A.R.V.I.S. that they were friends not foes, failing, calling Pepper, and then finally getting inside so Clint could raid Tony's alcohol cabinet again, Psyche, who was offered one of the guest beds by Pepper, found her 'nest' as close to the sky as possible.

"She'll freeze out there." Pepper mused.

"I'll bring her a blanket." Clint offered, getting up from where he was lounging on one of Tony's nicer couches and heading to the balcony. Psyche didn't jump when she heard him open and close the door behind him, and she didn't turn to look at him when he sat down after putting the blanket over her shoulders. She simply pulled it closer to her.

"How's the sky doing?" Clint asked, "Still up there?"

"Yeah." Psyche absently replied.

"How worried are you?" Clint asked, "For a god."

"I know it's foolish to worry about his safety." Psyche immediately said, "I know he's a god, but…Loki is different from Thor. He's all alone; he doesn't have Thor to help him this time."

"True." Clint said, "But if Thor was alone, and even if he lost, he'd still be alive."

"But can someone live through losing again?" Psyche asked seriously.

Clint paused and looked up at the moon, it was full, and it hung over the city in the same way it always had, with out without an invasion, and he said, "I don't know. I've never lost twice in a row…"

Psyche turned around to see Natasha at one of the counters, working on a real meal to eat instead of McDonalds. Psyche asked, "What's she like?"

"Lovely once you let her beat you up." Clint explained.

"She seems…Hard."

"She's hard all right. Been through a lot, you know." Clint said quietly before adding, "We've all been through a lot."

"Do you like her?"

"In that catsuit."

Psyche made a disgusted sound and turned to the sky again, watching for a gleam of light, or a pillar of darkness. She fell silent after that, even when Clint made a few jokes about how awkward it would be if the pillar of darkness were to fall on one of the baseball stadiums. After a few minutes of this awkward silence, Clint recognized a lost cause, and went back inside to get warm.

Loki's head hurt, that was his only thought. Why did his head hurt so much? He was dead, and death brings painless silence. Correct? Or had he been mistaken about death his entire life as well as his life?

Someone shook him and Loki let out a groan, but most of it was blood. He moved his head from side to side to explain that, no, he did not want to be touched at the moment.

Whoever it was shook him again and Loki snapped his eyes open to yell at them, to snap harshly at them about this incompetence at what a shake of the head means. _Gods_if only someone in this dumbass solar system would figure it out already!

"Brother-!" Came the bated whisper Loki was dreading the most of hear. It was pained, full of emotion, quivering, like a lost puppy. Loki allowed his eyes to focus slowly as Thor's face came in to view.

"Loki." Thor whispered, "Loki, are you alright?"

Loki tried to say something sarcastic but instead more blood gurgled out of his mouth, causing Thor to give him a worried look. "I'll get you home." Thor promised.

Only that, when Thor went to pick Loki up gently, Loki felt him suddenly give way, like his little brother was too heavy for him. Loki watched with worry as Thor collapsed beside Loki, breathing heavily.

They laid there, brother and brother, in pain. They were in silence for a little while until Loki whispered to Thor, "Brother…what has become of you?"

"The Tesseract." Thor explained dully.

Loki glanced upwards to where the Tesseract was laying, untouched. It glowed faintly but that's all that he could really make out that was different. "It sucks the life out of you…" Loki mused.

"The travelling between worlds." Thor explained, "I have to dematerialize and materialize all over again. You know what I mean."

Loki nodded and laid his head down in the dirt once again, watching the stars loom over them closely, they were closer than normal. Space, when not in the middle of battle, was intensely peaceful, Loki realized. There was no sound, only a light gravity, and the colors were brighter against the backdrop of the darkness of the rest of the universe. How calming it was, to lay next to one's brother and observe the weaving skies above.

"Remember." Thor started, "When father took us to space for the first time?"

Loki chuckled, "You tried to jump from one meteor to another. Father almost whipped you."

"It's my favorite memory." Thor whispered. Loki turned his head to look at Thor, though it hurt so much to do so. The blood around him smelled thick and of copper, but Thor continued, "Remember what I said? When we ran away from father for a few moments to explore…"

"Yes." Loki sighed. "We had our toy swords and we were pretending to battle. Like usual."

"I said, 'Someday, all of space will be safe!'" Thor continued, but his voice had become weaker and it seemed to take more energy out of him just to recall, "And you said—"

"'Together, we'll save space.'" Loki recited.

Thor turned his head to look at his little brother, so that they were face to face, and Loki watched as his eyebrows quivered and his smile wavered, "What happened? What happened to that Loki?"

"He grew up." Loki stated, "Discovered a few things."

"I miss him." Thor stated simply.

"I miss him too." Loki said, "He didn't get beaten to a pulp by Chitauri."

Thor chuckled a little, but Loki could tell that it hurt his chest when he did so. So he stopped, and he turned his head to face the stars again. After a moment of comfortable silence between the two of them, Thor said, "Loki…I'm very tired…"

"I know." Loki said, "Me too."

"I fear…" Thor stated, and Loki watched as his crystal eyes started to become misty in his fear, this fear that had haunted him for the past year or so, "I fear that we'll lose you again…"

"That I'll go bad." Loki grumbled.

"That you'll die." Thor whispered, his keen eyes bearing into the universe for help, before they fluttered closed. Loki watched as Thor's face relaxed into what Loki considered was the equivalent of Odinsleep; Thorsleep.

What was that thing that Clint often had said when he was hypnotized and something bad was happening?

"Fuck." Snapped Loki softly as he slammed his already hurting head against the ground and looked up at the sky above him. The universe was no help, and Thor would be out until he regained his energy, and with the travelling with the Tesseract, who knew when that would be. Rolling over to his side, he let out a groan as he reached up and pulled the fabric of his shirt away to expose the skin underneath, shards of glass and plastic jetting out. He tried to pull some out, but it hurt too much, so he decided that for the moment, he'd keep them in.

Looking around himself once he was able to sit, despite the fact that the bones in his back cracked in protest, Loki realized that the Chitauri weren't that far away. Thor had scared them away, but he could still hear the distant hum of them hissing. Sighing, Loki absently reached up to pull his own staff out of his chest.

Meanwhile, in New York, Psyche had to come to a decision. When Thor finally got back from Asgard, or space, wherever he and Loki were, she knew she'd have to make the choice of staying on Earth, or going to Loki in Asgard. And, she supposed, staying there.

She spent the night looking out to the sky, asking the universe for help.

The next morning, when Natasha awoke at promptly 5am in the morning, she sat with Psyche in the rays of the rising sun silently, before finally asking, "Do you think you'll do it? Leave earth?"

"I'm not sure." Psyche said, "What do you think I should do?"

"You should do what you need to do." Natasha reasoned, "That's what we all do anyway." And in the true fashion of doing what one needs to do, and no more nor no less, Natasha left Psyche to her thoughts in favor of working out in Tony's gym.

What did Psyche need to do?

When 9am came around, Clint still wasn't awake, so Psyche left Stark Tower. She still wore the same dress that she had been wearing for the past few days, but luckily she found some type of shoes to wear around New York so she didn't look too out of place. Most people ignored her, since it was early morning and work was far more important than a wondering girl. She had no money, not her cellphone, not even a way of identification. But the only thing she was going on was the conversation with Missy, saying they were at "the Hotel."

The hotel was the same hotel that Missy and Wendy used to host their parents instead of actually having someone in their townhouse that could see them smoking anything, it was called Street Estates. It was just around the corner of where they lived, and it was a miracle itself that it hadn't been destroyed during the invasion. Psyche found it by 10am, still standing with a few broken windows and a couple of scrapes along the walls, but considering, it was in good shape.

She went to the counter and hailed a receptionist, "Is there a Wendy and Missy staying here?"

"Room #763." She had said, and she dismissed Psyche.

Before knocking on the door itself, Psyche looked at herself in the hallway mirror. She looked tired; her eyes were heavy and blackened with the time of Asgard and staying up all night thinking. Her hair was pulled into a loose bun to keep it out of her face, but she knew just how unruly and unconditioned it looked. The dress was hanging off her as well;she was losing weight. She vaguely wondered how Loki would react if he saw her. She knocked on the door.

Wendy answered, stupidly holding a joint to her mouth. It took her a few moments to realize who it was. "Psyche?"

"Hey." Psyche said gently, "Can I come in?"

"Where the hell have you been?" Wendy snapped. "We called for milk like…Two days ago!"

"Is Missy here?" Psyche asked, ignoring her roommate's complaint.

"She's in the bathroom, showering." Wendy said, "What are you looking for?"

"My stuff." Psyche said, "You did grab some of my stuff, didn't you?"

Wendy looked nervous as she stood there, but Missy came out of the bathroom in a whoosh of hot air and stopped upon seeing the torn up Psyche. "Psyche." She said, "You're alright…"

"Have you seen the news?" Psyche quickly asked, "About the Avengers?"

"Yeah." Wendy said, "Yeah, we saw them. Captain America is the cutest." She smiled.

Psyche gave her a disapproving look before looking to Missy for help, "Well, Thor, he was one of them—"

"Oh _yeah_!" Wendy said, "The stud with the hammer…I'd like him to hammer—"

"This isn't a game, Wendy. He's a prince." Psyche quickly cut her off, "The prince of Asgard, he's in line to be King."

"What's Esgred?" Missy asked.

"He the Norse god of thunder." Psyche quickly explained, "That's why he was able to bring lightening."

"And we care about this because…?" Wendy trailed off.

"He has a brother." Psyche said, "The god of mischief."

"Wait. I thought Thor was the god of mischief." Wendy said.

"No, no." Psyche explained, "Thor is thunder. The god of mischief is—"

"Loki?" Missy asked, "Loki, like the guy you were dating. Is he a fanboy or something?"

"No." Psyche sighed, "No, Loki's the real deal. He's an actual god, like Thor."

Psyche looked between the two of them and waited until they made the connection between a strong blond man wielding thunder to the smooth handsome man who was coy and intelligent.

"…So what did Loki do in the invasion?" Missy asked slowly, "I didn't see him on TV…"

"Yeah." Wendy said slowly.

"He's…The reason for the invasion."

"Let me just wrap all this up." Missy said, popping her hip as she glared at her roommate from under her blunt black bangs, "You're dating the god of mischief, who caused an alien invasion in New York City. The one the Avengers were protecting us from?"

"Well." Psyche said softly, "I actually don't think they date…gods…" The two of them stared at her. And it was then that Psyche realized something very interesting about her experiences in the past couple of days.

She had been, since Loki's leaving in the library, living a hedonistic life on the basis of survival and self-preservation, as well the preservation of what Loki was and is. She had gone straight from Loki, to an invasion, to Loki, to Asgard, to Loki, to home, and would hopefully be going back to Loki. But as she stood in front of her roommates and explained what was actually happening, she realized just how strange her life had become. She was running around the universe, with gods and superheros. Why wasn't she freaking out like the two of them? But that wasn't something she had to do at the moment. "So…Did you guys grab any of my stuff?" She asked again.

"No." Wendy stated sharply, "We didn't. We thought you'd go get it yourself before they cleaned it up, but you were too busy prancing around with the guy that tried to destroy earth."

"He demolished our house, Psyche." Missy added.

"What?" Psyche asked sarcastically, "I've just explained to you that I've been to space and back, I've just showed up in once piece and you're worried about the house?"

"That Loki guy, I knew he was bad news!" Wendy said, "I could sense it—"

"You were high every single time he was around, and you're the one who told me to find his house! If I hadn't gone to his hideout I wouldn't have been sealed in—"

"Sealed in?" Missy yelped, "He sealed you into his hideout? The fuck, Psyche? He could be a serial killer!"

Psyche made a frustrated sound with her throat and gesturing dramatically, she said, "You don't know him! You two are too shallow to actually understand anything about the psychology of someone—"

"And you do." Wendy said with deadpan, "You, Miss I'm-Better-Than-You, always making us feel like we're failures."

"You get high all day." Psyche snapped to Wendy.

"So what are you doing now?" Missy said, "Why are you here?"

Something, at this point, passed between the three of them. She had originally thought, years ago, that these two would be interesting characters that would lighten her life and she would make many memories with them. Dinners at the table, house parties, little strings of clothing hanging around the house. But that hadn't been it, not even close.

"I originally came to let the two of you know I was safe." Psyche said.

"And to get your stuff." Wendy snarled.

"That you didn't even have the consideration to grab for me." Psyche countered, "I had books, clothes, mementos that have been with me my entire life and you _knew_that! You knew that my green jewelry box was my prized possession—"

"No I didn't." Wendy snapped.

"I've told her hundreds of times!" Psyche yelled.

"So you're just going to shove off to another world for a god that tried to take over Earth." Missy said.

"Yes." Psyche said, as she went the door, exasperated.

"Fine then." Missy said, "Leave us. We're just the closest thing you've had to a family."

"No you're not." Psyche said, "You're not even close. And he isn't a criminal. He's a hero. He's saving Asgard and—" She stopped as she looked between the two of them, and she realized just how crazy she must be sounding, but it didn't matter. What was so bad about having a brain full of cats, when each cat had claws? So she said quietly, more to herself than to the other two, "I have to get back to him." And with that, she opened and slammed the door so violently that Wendy yelled from the other side.

Loki reached up and ran his fingers through his hair, but that hurt his scalp too much so he had to stop with a hiss. But that wasn't as bad as the hissing that was slowly getting louder from around the meteor. It was deep and grumbling, and Loki was surprised that Thanos hadn't arrived back to see what the hold up was.

Reaching over to Mjolnir, he used it to prop himself up slowly. Once he was on his knees, the extra blood that had been pooling in his chest flowing out freely, he looked around himself to see that the Chitauri were still lurking nearby; he could see the greens of their eyes shining through the dark space like demented stars, watching him hesitantly. "Too scared, huh?" Loki whispered in a grunt as he pushed himself up, finally being able to stand with his staff in his one hand as support, and he used it as a type of cane. The Chitauri hissed even louder and started to advance.

"Now, now." Loki scolded them, and they stopped moving, "You should never attempt to kill a god." He went over to where the Tesseract was sitting, and picked it up. Immediately the Chitauri backed away, but Loki felt it too late, and he held it out with one of his hands as he squeezed the handle, "Because if you don't do it on the first try, you've failed."

With a twist of his wrist, Loki sent out a wave of blue energy, and each Chitauri was met with a fiery death that incinerated them to the bone, and Loki smiled at how uncanny it looked, to watch their dried remains float through space like snow. He only wished he had brought the Tesseract before, but then again, he hadn't expected on living.

Which reminded him, Thor was still laying in the middle of the ground, passed out. Sighing, Loki went to him and at first, attempted to pick up his hammer. Surprised, for it allowed him to carry it, Loki attached it to his belt, before looking down at Thor. He looked so peaceful; all the stresses of the past few days had left the creases of his face, but they became smooth as Thor dreamed.

"You're so calm, brother." Loki mused as he walked up to him, "I could kill you right now, have the Tesseract, go help Thanos. Why do you trust me so?"

Because, thought Loki, in his youth, he always knew that he slept better knowing that Thor was in the palace. Loki smiled at himself before reaching down and pushing some of Thor's hair out of his face, so that the cut along his cheek wasn't irritated. How could the god of thunder look so small? He glanced down at the cellphone debris lodged in his skin, it was throbbing, but he shook his head and leaned down to turn Thor over. Then, gently, he picked his brother up with one of his arms and hoisted him over his shoulder so that Thor was hanging with his head on Loki's other shoulder. It hurt, man did it hurt, but Loki knew that it would, that it always would hurt to carry his brother, and he kneeled down to pick up the Tesseract again. With another twist, he allowed himself to be sucked through the portal connecting all of the worlds of the universe, and he carried his brother home.

* * *

We're in the home stretch! I think our next chapter will be our last! Thanks so much for reading, I've been very interested in your responses over whether or not this should be happy or sad. A lot of you are asking for realistic! Crazy! We'll see in the next chapter! Again, thanks for reading! (And 200 reviews! *dies*)


	14. Late

Psyche trumped through New York angrily after talking with Wendy and Missy. It was weird to know that the argument would be the last thing she would remember about them. Since she figured that when she passed through the power of the Tesseract, it would be some time before she returned to Earth. Not with Loki in the condition he was in. If he was in some sort of condition, or possibly he had no condition at all…

She was so incredibly angry and disappointed in what she thought were her closest friends, and it was only 11 in the morning. And could she stomp around the streets any harder?

When she returned to Stark Tower, Clint was still asleep on the couch. Realizing this, she decided it would be more prudent to tip toe past him. But if it's one thing that one should remember when they enter Stark/The Avenger's Tower, is that when two master assassins are living with you, it was impossible to actually sneak through anywhere. Which was why when she got to the kitchen, and all but sniffled, she heard Clint say from the couch, "Rough morning?"

Psyche all but jumped out of her skin. She was pale. Clint made a noise with his throat and pulled himself up to a sitting position and rubbed his eye lazily, "Did you get your stuff?"

"How did you—"

"You looked pretty determined." Clint observed, but he glanced at her up and down and said, "You don't have much…"

"They didn't grab anything from the townhouse after the invasion." Psyche snapped quietly, "We got in an argument."

Clint's chin was resting on the back of the couch as he watched her with his sharp eyes, but upon hearing this, he gave her a sad look, "Ouch. That's a nice way to leave Earth."

"Yeah." Psyche sighed, "Any news?"

"Natasha is out scoping the city." Clint reported, "But no. If we wait for another day, we're going to call it."

"Call it?"

"A failed mission." Clint said seriously, "We can't wait forever, you know."

Psyche nodded but her neck was numb. She gave him what she hoped was a confident smile, but Clint could see right through it. He gave her a reassuring look before collapsing back onto the couch and closing his eyes, "Get some rest. When you do see him, you don't want to look like you've been up for the past three days. Take the other half if you want." And he pointed with his foot to the other side of the L-Shaped couch, a space just big enough for her. With a sigh, Psyche thought that would be best, in the long run, and she went over and curled up to snooze.

Loki had to admit, Thor was heavier than he thought he'd be. Then again, Loki was weaker than his normally was. But the fact that Thor's head was leaning on one of his largest wound, the hole through the back from his staff and the phone. "Of course, brother." Loki said out loud as he walked through Asgard almost casually, "My wounds will forever be your pillow."

Night has since fallen in Asgard by the time the two had gotten back, but Loki knew that Odin and Frigga would have had Heimdall watching for the two for them diligently. So when he made it about 50 yards, along the long empty street of the Capitol, he wasn't surprised at all to see the Warriors Three, Steve, Tony and Bruce all running towards him like some demented welcoming party. "Loki!" Steve yelled, "Loki! Is that you?"

"Y—yeah…" Loki breathed out as the others got close. Fandral quickly started to pull Thor off of him, but Loki held up his hand and said, "No. Stop. I've got him."

"Loki you're about to pass our yourself…" Bruce said, "You need to let us carry Thor."

"I will carry my brother." Loki hissed out. He thought back to when Thor gave him piggyback rides all the time when they were young, and he realized that he, himself, had never actually given Thor a piggyback ride.

"Loki…" Sif continued, but he gave her a dirty look and shoved past her and continued walking. The others followed awkwardly suit as well. Sif then said, "So what happened? Is everything alright?"

"I won't speak about this right now." Loki stated coldly.

"Why so harsh?" Fandral stated, "Why are you so coarse with your fellowmen?"

"I'm a Frost Giant." Loki stated blandly while walking stiffly. The others had to slow themselves down to keep at his pace.

They walked this way, all the way back to the palace, in complete silence after being dismissed by Loki in such a negative tone. They were nervous especially, since it was Thor that was being carried and not the usual. So many times when they had gone to battle, it was Thor that would victoriously lead the group to the palace with a big dumb smile on his face, and Loki would be the one who could hardly move. How foreign it looked, for the roles to be reversed.

When they entered the palace, a few guards had offered to carry Thor but Loki brushed them off in the same way he did with the Warriors Three and the Avengers. Once they got to the healing room, Loki gently laid Thor on the same bed that Psyche had to be laid upon, though it had been remade once again. He even moved Thor around so that his brother would be comfortable.

"Loki…" Frigga whispered to her younger son, "You're safe…Are you alright?"

Loki turned around from Thor and looked at his adoptive mother. She was swaying, or he was swaying. Yes, he concluded in his mind as he felt the blood drain from his head, yes he was the one that was swaying. And thus, it wasn't surprising at all when he fell to the ground and passed out.

Maybe this was death. Because this time around, the pain that he had been feeling was leaving him. But he was conscious that his father knew of the type of healing magic that numbed the body, and thus he guessed that if he was still alive, this would be the case. Death would just be too kind to him.

He dreamed of Psyche mainly. Her long blond hair that he thought was the sun at first, but he thought of how soft it was and how easily it slid through his fingers. He thought of her smile, how awkward she could be and it always showed. She was never completely, utterly confident, she always had to be somewhat confused or scared looking. But he never minded it, always gentle and quiet, just like he always had been, always hoped to be. He dreamed about how small and dainty she was, and how witty and quick and insightful she could be in comparison to the dense, hedonistic gods he had grown up with. He dreamed about what she might be doing at that moment, if she was safe; if she was thinking about him.

Another war was about to be waged upon the Earth while he was sleeping and dreaming about Psyche. Another war that would threaten her life and the life of the humans, all because of him. He did start all of this, this chain of events. He could have stayed out, he could have let Thor go to Earth for the first time and learn his lesson and after finding out that he was a Frost Giant, he could have just accepted it, just let it be something he had to deal with, and he could have helped Odin take care of Asgard in Thor's absence. He could have, but the pain that he had felt then was too intense for him to numb it professionally. And now the pain he felt at the thought of Psyche being unprotected was much more intense, it left a sharp pain in his stomach that was harder to live with than knowing he was a Frost Giant.

Which was why after what felt like a million dreams, he decided to open his eyes.

Everything was foggy, obviously. It would be, but it was bright and Loki knew that it was morning. He smelled the morning dew in the fields of Asgard and he heard a few of the Asgardian birds tweeting, though it was muffled, outside the large window that he knew was there, that had been there for years. When he'd scuff his knee or when he was 9 years old and he got a fever, he had spent time in this very room. He even knew that the window would be open because when Frigga would spend time in the room with him, he'd always politely ask if the window could be open.

Foggy gold, that was all that he could see. He grunted softly and tried to swallow but his throat hurt. He wondered if it was simply the next morning, or if it had been a week, or a few weeks, or even months. And whether Psyche was waiting for him on Earth.

He felt a soft hand brush his forehead, and someone spoke, but he couldn't hear them clearly. It sounded like a muffled drone and Loki shook his head to indicate that he couldn't understand. They stopped speaking for a moment and waited, as their hand stroked his cheek gently.

"Loki…?" Came the voice, a little clearer. Loki jetted his chin out, showing them that he had heard that.

Loki turned his head, and slowly the image of Psyche came into view. He sucked in a breath but he still couldn't speak. He thought how nice she looked with the sun basking against her hair. He tried to smile but it looked strained, and he watched as Psyche said, "Hey…How are you feeling? Water?" He nodded slowly and she smiled to retrieve it. Once he got his drink, Psyche continued, "I'm going to go get Frigga and Odin—"

"No." Loki whispered, "Not yet. What are you doing here?"

"I'm never where you actually want me to be." Psyche said, as she sat down and relaxed in the chair.

"How long…"

"Just a few days." Psyche reassured, "They had to pull out bits of my cellphone. But it's a Nokia so it still works."

"And how…?"

"Odin came to Earth." Psyche said, and Loki's face was almost priceless. But Psyche continued, "He had to bring Tony and Steve and Bruce back…And pick me up."

"You should be on Earth." Loki rasped, "Your home is Earth…"

"I don't have anyone on Earth." Psyche reasoned.

Loki watched how determined she looked and decided that Psyche being on Earth wouldn't be safe with Thanos on it anyway. He'd rather have her close by than running away from whatever that lunatic could concoct, so he moved on.

"Thor…?"

"He's sleeping still."

Loki nodded and turned so that he could lay his head on the pillow and relax. He closed his eyes and he felt Psyche slowly sit on the bed beside him and take his hand, and he said, "Thanos is on his way to Earth. I need you to inform the other members of the Avengers and—" But he stopped and said with a sigh, "But for now…I'll rest."

"That's a good idea." Psyche said as she reached over and slowly pulled the fabric away from his chest wound, "This is the worst one, by the way. The one with my phone. But it's healing nicely."

"Psyche." Loki scolded.

"And the bones that were broken are completely healed." She went on, and Loki realized how awkward she must have been feeling, because she was rambling so much and pulling her hair behind her ear. And, he mused with annoyance, ignoring him.

"Psyche." Loki continued.

"And you didn't even lose that much blood. Odin said that you were mainly tired—"

"Psyche!" Loki snapped.

Psyche had jumped but she moved to look down at him anyway. Loki watched as her blond hair fell over her shoulder and made a curtain, with the sun shining through it and it made him wish he could reach up and run his fingers through it. But he ignored that urge and said, "You're late."

"I—" Psyche whispered, her cheeks flushing madly, and Loki watched as her eyes started to tear up and her full bottom lip started to quiver. The destruction of two worlds, the frustration and Odinsleep of his father and the death of the Other, all by his hand, was one thing. But watching Psyche like this was another, an he watched as she whispered out, "I didn't know we had set a time. Did we decide on one?"

Loki shook his head, "No. Of course not."

"Then how can I be late?"

"You just are." Loki whispered, "But I'm glad you're here. Safe."

Psyche smiled and leaned down to kiss him, he relished in it but only for a moment before she left him to get his parents. In the mean time, he found himself sitting up in the bed himself and looking out the window, wondering what he would have been thinking just a month ago, and a month from now. Does time change everything that fast? Could he keep up this pace? For Psyche?

He watched as the suns slowly inched themselves over Asgard, and people below got up and started their day. A few were cooks, he watched some carry bread, and he watched the Warriors Three travel to and fro, most likely to a pub that Loki and Thor once visited with them. He watched as some of the servants tended to the flowers just outside the window, but they never looked in to see if the Frightful Loki was awake. So many things were happening in the world, so many cold and dense things that were causing pain and suffering, but Asgard was perpetually under the golden rays of their sanctuary, under the watchful eye of Odin and Thor, peaceful and safe and warm. Mornings and nights, these were his favorite times of the day, for they were the times when everything was refreshed once again.

When Odin and Frigga arrived, he greeted him warmly and they sat with him. After an uncomfortable pause, and Psyche announcing that she was going to have a bath, which meant she wanted Loki to talk to them alone, Odin was the first to speak, "We've decided to drop the charges, Son." And Loki thought, of course you would.

"How does the rest of Asgard feel about this?" Loki asked.

"We had some…negativity." Odin admitted, "But after explaining what you've done for us, it was minimal. Once Thor awakens he can give his full account and they will understand your sacrifices."

"I've made no sacrifices." Loki stated.

"You were intending to." Odin said, "If it wasn't for Thor—"

But Frigga leaned closer and asked urgently, interrupting Odin so that there wouldn't be a fight about who was stronger of her sons, reaching out to take Loki's hand, "Loki…What happened?"

Loki looked at his parents for a long time, and in reality, it would be Thor's account that actually meant something to all of Asgard. His own journey he'd keep to himself, for the time being, and thus he said as he looked out the window again, thinking that that evening he'd ask Psyche if she wanted to take a stroll with him through one of the brush labyrinths that were scattered around the palace lands, and how much he bet she'd like the serenity, he said "I was just a little late, mother."

_The End_

* * *

I've left you with one last little riddle to figure out. Let's see who realises first!

Thanks again for reading this guys! This is one of my favourite fanfictions I've ever written and the fact that it got more than 200 reviews just makes my day! Thanks for the support, the feedback, and just for reading! xxxxxxx


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